


Trollhunters Imagines

by aboverohan



Category: 3Below, Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro, Wizards - Fandom
Genre: I'm trying my best, Multi, and they deserve it, does that count?, honestly I don't know what I'm doing, i love all these characters, you know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2020-04-23 08:55:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 33,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19147723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aboverohan/pseuds/aboverohan
Summary: Tales of Arcadia characters/Reader, and that's basically all this is :)





	1. Dealing With Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I started out on Wattpad, but then was like "I'll also post on AO3 because why not". I've never used AO3 before, so this is me figuring it out. Also, I'm not that stellar of a writer... but I do try! If that accounts for anything.
> 
> Of course, nothing belongs to me other than any minor, minor OCs that may show up - if they ever - and any plots I make up, I suppose.

You honestly had thought this exact situation would have gone better - way better… at least it did in your head. Maybe you just over exaggerated or under exaggerated. It wasn’t quite clear at the moment.

 

Currently, you had sweat that dripped down the sides of your heated face and it pooled at the end of your chin. “I messed up…” You mumbled. “Real hard.”

 

“You think?!”

 

Your e/c eyes snapped to the right and landed on the hero of the small town you lived in. And the so-called hero ended up being some  _ kid _ ! You don’t even know how! Then again you don’t really know how anything thing in this town is how it is.

 

“I mean, did you really think lighting a branch on  _ fire  _ and throwing it at the goblins would work?” The kid shouted. You fought to roll your eyes, but you lost that battle.

 

_ Earlier that night… _

 

_ You had decided to take the more scenic route home… which also turned out to be the longer route as well and it took you along the edge of the forest. It was dark out and very few stars filled the night sky like the previous nights. _

 

_ “Jeesh. This place needs to invest in some street lighting.” You said, taking notice in the complete lack of lamp posts. You whipped out your phone from your bag and turned the flashlight on. That was much better, you thought. _

 

_ You continued on with your long journey. You jumped here and there at some of the noises that came out of the forest, but thought nothing of it. You tried not to let your eyes wander over to forest, but you were so curious! For some odd reason… After all, it was just a forest - it wasn’t special in any shape or form. _

 

_ Suddenly, you phone beeped aggressively. _

_ With your brows furrowed, you gazed down at your phone. “No, no, no. No! Not now!” You yelled. _

 

_ You clutched your phone and shook it. The small white box that told you your phone was on twenty percent did not disappear like you wanted it to. How far could that twenty percent get you with the flashlight on? You didn’t want to do the calculations. _

 

_ “Welp. This is what I get for taking the long way home, huh?” The words came out harshly. You gripped your h/c hair before you let it go. _

 

_ “‘Y’ is for yes.” _

 

_ You spun around so quick at the sound of what sounded like Siri’s voice and held your hands up in defense. One hand was still wrapped around your phone, but now it guarded your face. And the other… well, let’s just say now you had a finger gun. _

 

_ “‘K’ is for kill.” The voice echoed again. _

 

_ “Whoever you are, person, you best stop! I’m, uh,” You stared down at your hand. “Armed!” _

 

_ A whole bunch of mumbo-jumbo came next. You may have not understood it, but that didn’t make it any less terrifying. _

 

_ “Look, I have like five dollars and some cents. That’ll buy you, what? A candy bar or something?” _

 

_ You stood in one spot and kept spinning in circles. Eventually, glowing eyeballs peeked out of the dark forest. That’s normal, you tried to convince yourself, completely and utterly normal. _

 

_ “You know what? Why don’t I just keep walking? Just keep walking Y/n…” You had backed away from the edge of the forest slowly and just took a nice, long breather. _

 

_ “‘N’ is for no.” With that, little green  _ things  _ jumped out of the forest. Yes, green things that looked like some weird animal. One of them had a children’s toy in it’s hand… and what looked to be a mustache drawn on its face. Definitely not an animal. _

 

_ “‘N’ is for no.” It repeated. _

 

_ “You are so right. ‘N’ is for no. And thing is a whole ‘no’!” _

 

_ You took off running. You had no idea what else to do other than that. And unfortunately for you, you also happened to run directly into the forest. You could hear the green things following closely behind you. _

 

_ What can I do… what can I do… you chanted over and over again in your head until you got a bright idea. _

 

_ It was getting harder to breathe as you ran harder and faster. It also got harder to keep your footing as more trees and their hidden roots became more available and invisible the deeper you went into the forest. _

 

_ Eventually you did stop - you had to - and when you did, you took all the contents of your bag and dumped it onto the forest floor. You searched rapidly for the lighter that was  _ somewhere  _ in the pile of junk! _

 

_ “Animals don’t like fire. I mean, the Jungle Book can’t be wrong about that!” You whispered. Then again, you had already decided that the green things were indeed not animals of any kind. “It’ll still work.” _

 

_ The sound of leaves and twigs breaking had made you rummage harder through the junk pile. You could hear all the mumbo-jumbo and the “‘K’ is for kill” getting louder. _

 

_ “Ah-HA!” _

 

_ You opened the lighter and attempted to get the flame going. You got it on the first go. Now, you looked around for something to light on fire. _

 

_ “Oh my God! I’m in the middle of the freaking forest and I can’t even find a stiCK?!” You cried out. Stressful laughter escaped through your lips and you stared up. As you stared up, something hit you. “... I’m surrounded by trees…” _

 

_ You thumped your lighter-free hand against your forehead. “You complete idiot, Y/n! You’re surrounded by stupid trees! AgHH!!” _

 

_ You ran over to the closest tree and yanked at one of its branches. The green things had shown up to your party right now and raised the panic level. You yanked harder on the branch as the things closed in around you. _

 

_ “‘K’ is for kill.” _

 

_ “No, no. I think ‘K’ is for, like, kindness or something!” _

 

_ “‘N’ is for no.” _

 

_ The branch didn’t break off the tree and didn’t seem like it was going to in time. So, you shut the lighter and turned around to face the green things. _

 

_ The little mustache one stared at you with its glowing eyes and smirked evilly. _

 

_ Just right before one of those things pounced on you, it was sliced in half. Your e/c eyes widened in horror as it just exploded into green slime. _

 

_ “Y/n, what are you doing out here?” _

 

_ Your gaze locked onto one of the underclassmen that went to your school. Jim Lake. You knew him from Senor Uhl’s class and you tutored him every once in awhile for spanish. And now here he was killing all the green things out in the middle of the forest. _

 

_ “What am I - what am I doing here? What are you doing here, kid?” You questioned. “And is that the costume you wore in that school play?!” _

 

_ “It isn’t a costume!” He exclaimed and continued to hack every green thing like it was nothing. _

 

_ He started saying something else, but you zoned out and went back at yanking that one branch. You wanted to help Jim. _

 

_ After a few more hard tugs the branch came flying off. “Finally!” You once more took your lighter and got the flame going. You held the lighter up to the wood. “C’mon, baby! Just start a fire.” Within a few seconds, the branch caught on fire. _

 

_ You closed the lighter and dropped it to the ground enable to hold the branch in both hands. “Back gremlins! Back!” _

 

_ The green creatures - and Jim - noticed the branch on fire in your possession and stopped immediately. You had to admit you felt a bit accomplished. _

 

_ “Y/n!” Jim looked at you, then at the branch in your hands with a look of concern. _

 

_ “Kid!” You said in the same tone. _

 

_ You waved the branch back and forth through the air. The green things didn’t appear to be intimidated by your fire any more. “Don’t any of you come any closer. I have this, and I will use it!” _

 

_ “Use it?!” Jim’s eyes grew large at your remark. _

 

_ The trollhunter felt no safety with you in the moment. You weren’t acting like you did at school and that’s what scared him a bit. _

 

_ “You can’t use fire!” _

 

_ “Watch me.” _

 

_ Back to the present.... _

 

And that’s how you started the fire. Not the smartest thing you’ve ever done.

 

“You know, kid, I thought my branch it would have landed on at least one gremlin. I didn’t think it would miss one entirely!” You hissed through your clenched jaw.

 

Jim let out a long, frustrated sigh.

 

“Don’t do that! Just,” You grabbed a fist full of dirt off the forest floor and threw it onto the growing fire, “Help me put this out.”

 

After you had threw the branch, the green creatures had scattered which just left you and Jim in the middle of the forest with the fire. You didn’t mind that the things left, in fact you were completely content with them leaving!

 

“This is why you don’t play with fire, Y/n.” You heard Jim grumble.

 

You ignored Jim for the rest of the duration of time it took to put the fire out. And by the time the two of you put it out, your whole body was sore from all the leg and arm workouts you did. “You know, kid, you got a lot of explaining to do.”

 

The younger boy eyed you. “What? I think I deserve to know what those things were and why you showed up in costume.”

 

“It isn’t a costume.” He repeated his words from earlier.

“And I didn’t start a fire…”

 

Jim rolled his eyes at your sarcastic reply. His armour really wasn’t a costume, but Jim didn’t really want to start that fight with you… not after he witnessed you start a fire and scare the goblins off.

 

“I’ll explain everything to you tomorrow. At lunch.”

 

“Uh, I’m serving lunch detention with Uhl tomorrow.”

 

Detention? Since when did you get detention, Jim thought to himself. Another long, painful sigh left Jim and you noticed how his face twisted in irritation. “But I could always skip and just go the day after or something.”

 

A small smile fell upon your lips and you shrugged your aching shoulders. “But if we meet up tomorrow, we are going off campus to eat. Just so you know.”

 

“That’s… fine.” Jim shook his head. “Meet me at the bike racks, okay?”

 

“I gotcha, kid.”

 

A silence filled the air between you and Jim. “Can you, um, help me find my bag then… I don’t know… walk me home or something? I mean, those gremlins might come back for me.”

 

You smoothed you h/l hair back and looked at Jim expectedly. “I don’t feel like dying tonight, you know?”

 

“In all honesty, I actually know.” Jim huffed out hot air.

 

“That’s a bit sad.”

 

“Let’s just find your bag and get you home.” Jim swung his sword behind him and took off to the right. You quickly followed after him.


	2. Blinky Didn't Mean To

Blinky didn’t know how he came to feel the way he did towards you. Never in his life would he have imagined this! A troll he could have understood, but a  _ human _ ?! That was down right preposterous!

 

He never meant to melt at the warmth of your smile. He never meant to stare when you were oblivious to him. He never meant for his stone surface to heat every time you did catch him looking or for his heart to skip its beat. He really never meant to sniff your beautiful h/c hair whenever the two of you were close. He never meant  to “accidentally” brush one of his hands against your hand here and there.

 

He never meant to do any of those things! But he just couldn’t help himself…

 

“Hey, Blinky, are you alright?”

 

All six of Blinky’s eyes snapped over to your form. You were sitting down at one of Blinky’s many desks, hunched over an old book written by his brother with an odd look on your face as you gazed at him.

 

“Yes, I am quite fine.” He replied a bit too quickly for his liking. “Why in Heaven’s sake wouldn’t I be, Y/n?”

 

You tilted your head and said, “You just seem distracted as of late.”

 

You had noticed the troll’s odd behavior a few months ago. When you had first met him he had talked to you just about every time you graced him with your presence and he would actually stand next you… but now he was distant. He didn’t talk to you anymore, he tried to keep away from you as far as he could, and he’d just stare at you.

 

It hurt you a lot more than you liked. You didn’t ever think it would actually hurt for Blinky to distance himself from you, but it did and that was reality. You missed him, though you would never admit it out loud and you would certainly never let Blinky find out.

 

“Ah, yes, well…” Blinky paused.

 

The troll didn’t know how to respond. He didn’t want to tell you truth, but he didn’t want to lie to you either. So, he let the first thing that came to mind slip out of his mouth.

 

“Jim!”

 

You physically jumped in your seat at the sudden loud exclamation from Blinky. Your e/c eyes widened and your grip tightened on the book in your hands. The troll then realized that he had all but yelled at you and mentally winced at his mistake.

 

“Jim.” Blinky repeated much more calmly. “He’s just been very stressed lately, and I am worried about his health. I mean, with Gunmar escaping the darklands and all this homework he’s been given - not to mention the late night goblin hunting! Master Jim just doesn’t seem to be in his best…”

 

It wasn’t a complete lie. Blinky was concerned with the trollhunter’s well-being.

 

“Why not give Jim a day off from training then?” You suggested.

 

“Give Master Jim a day off? I -”

 

“Look,” You cut the blue troll off. “I know Gunmar is back and everything. And that it is kind of crucial for Jim to keep up on his training in order to defeat the guy. But, I mean, is  _ one single day  _ of missing training really going to do anything? Toby and Claire skip out all the time… And I do too.”

 

Blinky had to admit that you were correct to a certain degree. You, Toby, and Claire trained very little compared to the trollhunter, but in battle you all seemed to be at the top of your game. Yet, if Jim wanted to defeat the monster of troll-kind…

 

Blasted! Blinky couldn’t decide if he should let Jim have a day off or not.

 

“Not to mention  _ you  _ never train! But you’re completely amazing out there doing whatever it is you do!” That comment grabbed the full attention of the troll because now your gazes were locked.

 

Amazing? Did you really think that Blinkous Galadrigal was amazing? Blinky didn’t process any of the other words that fell out of your mouth after that - he was to busy wrapping his head around how you called him amazing.

 

You noticed. You could tell that Blinky had stopped listening, so you just stopped talking all together. You shut the book closed that was in front of you and stood up from your seat.  His gaze might have been locked with yours, but it certainly didn’t stay that way. You moved over to a bookshelf and set the book there before you turned back around to look at the troll.

 

Blinky hadn’t moved an inch. He seemed to be caught up in his own thoughts, ones of which seemed to be more important than what you had been saying.

 

You let out a pained sigh and ran your fingers through your h/c hair. “Just think about letting Jim have a day off. Okay, Blinky?”

 

Once more, your own voice pulled Blinky back to the real world.

 

“Of course I’ll thin-” Blinky cut himself off when he realised you were headed towards the door. “Where are you going?”

 

“I’m tired.” You lied.

 

You weren’t tired… you were just a bit hurt from Blinky’s obvious lack of interest in you.

 

“So, I’m just going to head home early today.”

 

A sharp sting set across Blinky’s stone body before it finally reached his heart. He knew humans needed their sleep - far more sleep than any troll ever needed - but that didn’t make it any less antagonizing to watch you leave.

 

“Ah, yes. I am sorry to have kept you for so long.”

 

“Don’t be. I enjoy our time together…” You tried not to think about the past few months, but rather all the time before the troll became distant.

 

“As do I.”

 

“Good. I’ll see some time tomorrow after I get off work.” The ends of your mouth twitched up in a small smile.

 

Blinky immediately felt himself melting.

 

“Goodnight.” With that, you turned around and headed out of Blinky’s home.

 

Blinky listened to the sound of your feet hitting against the floor until he could no longer hear it. Once he knew you were gone, he mumbled a few words under his breath before he said a simple “goodnight” back to you.


	3. Clearly, Jimbo

You stared at Jim Lake from your locker. He wasn’t doing anything special other than putting away his books, but he still managed to captivate you in a way no other boy could. There was just something about Jim… something exciting! You just knew it!

 

Jim and you had known each other for awhile. It wasn’t a relationship that dated all the way back to second grade, but that didn’t make it any less significant no matter how much Toby argued it was. A few months in, however, you began to realize that you felt something much deeper than friendship for the boy when another girl popped into the picture.

 

Claire Nuñez.

 

She was the one who made your blood boil. You didn’t necessarily hate her. No, it wasn’t anything like that. You just didn’t like how Jim fawned over her and went on and on about her. You just wished that he would notice you… but alas, you didn’t think that would happen unless Claire disappeared out of Arcadia for good.

 

“Hey, Y/n, are you ready for those laps today?”

 

You turned your head to the side and met the friendly face of Eli Pepperjack. Oh, how you loved that dear boy to death!

 

“I think I’d rather sit in Uhl’s class for another hour, Eli.” A laugh passed back and forth between you and Eli.

 

Taking a short moment, you shoved your spanish book into your locker before slamming the creaky thing shut. “Are you going to keep up with me this time?”

 

You could hear a nervous chuckle come from Eli. You mentally shook your head and smiled ever so slightly. Eli was never a big fan of gym, but he never complained about it like it was the worst thing possible that a few other students did. You and Eli rode in the same boat - you both disliked gym, but at least tried. And Coach Lawrence always praised the both of you for the effort… most of the time.

 

You leaned your body against the lockers behind you and hugged your arms around your body. A sudden shiver ran down your spine, so you instinctively looked over at where Jim was. His blue eyes met your e/c eyes in a heartbeat and you felt all the air in your lungs leave.

 

Jim didn’t look away. You didn’t look away.

 

Yet, is wasn’t as happy as you originally thought. Jim’s eyes were narrowed dangerously as he stared at you and a scowl was painted across his handsome features. Now that confused you. Why did Jim seem angry at you? You didn’t do anything - nothing to your knowledge that is.

 

Your h/c brows furrowed together and you mouthed a silent “What?” to Jim. The only response you recieved was an eye roll before Jim shut his own locker and stomped off towards the gym.

 

Not only were you more confused, you felt an ache in your heart as well.

 

“I think Jim likes you.”

 

“I’m sorry. What?” You blinked rapidly at Eli’s random comment. “For a second it sounded like you said that Jim likes me.”

 

Eli’s face dead-panned and he looked at you as if you were stupid. Were you that oblivious as to have not noticed Jim’s feeling for you? It would appear to be that way. It was rather hard to differentiate between Jim’s constant mood changes… And why would he go on about Claire if he liked you? That didn’t make sense.

 

You removed your arms from around your body and pushed yourself off the lockers. “Jim doesn’t like me, Eli. He likes Claire.”

 

“But, but he just glared at me! Why would Jim glare at me for no reason?”

 

“Maybe he glared at you because you’re friends with Steve now.”

 

Eli’s mouth opened up to retort, but he quickly shut it. You were right. Jim probably glared at him because he was friends Steve - a fellow creepslayer. Then again, weren’t Jim and Steve fine with each other now? Or did Eli miss something completely.

 

“Let’s just head to gym now. You may be buddy-buddy with Steve, but that doesn’t mean Coach Lawrence isn’t going to cut you any slack.” You walked off, away from the lockers with Eli following closely behind you.

 

It was a semi silent trip towards the gym. Neither Eli or you spoke very much on the way, not seeing a real reason to. Upon entering the gym, the two of you split off and headed towards the designated locker rooms.

 

You changed rather quickly into the special gym shorts, shoes, and shirt before exiting and meeting back up with Eli outside the locker room. Many of the other students stood around, conversing - some sat alone.

 

Off in one of the gym corners sat Jim and Toby on the bleachers talking about the h/c haired Y/n.

 

“Why don’t you just talk to Y/n, Jimbo?”

 

“It isn’t that easy, Tobs.”

 

In all truth, it was that  _ easy _ . However, Jim wouldn’t tell Toby that.

 

“And Y/n seems to be more interested in Eli than me.” Jim spat harshly. He took a quick moment to steal a glance at you and Eli talking to one another on the other side of the gym.

 

Jim didn’t like how you laughed at whatever Eli was saying at the moment, and he definitely didn’t like the fact that your hand was rested on Eli’s shoulder. But he wouldn't make an argument about how good you looked when you were laughing.

 

He just loved the way your lips twitched up and tightened into a huge smile just before that first laugh escaped your mouth. That single, first laugh was always the warmest to Jim… not that all the following laughter was cold - no, they were all warm to him. The first was just simply the best.

 

“I mean, look at them.” Jim continued to stare. “Laughing and all their touching. How, Toby, is Eli even better than me?! He’s way shorter than Y/n… and… and not that that matters, but still!”

 

Toby looked at his best friend. “You’re jealous, Jimbo.”

 

“Jealous?”

 

Toby nodded.

 

“I’m not jealous.” Jim lied more to himself than anything.

 

The trollhunter stared at Eli and you for a second longer before finally removing his gaze. He didn’t - couldn’t stare any longer. It hurt too much to see how happy you were with Eli… How happy you were with someone who wasn’t him!

 

“If you aren’t jealous… then I guess you wouldn’t care if I told you Y/n said they were in love with Steve?”

 

Immediately, Jim froze.

 

In love with… Steve? Steve Palchuk? The guy who tortured Jim for so many years? Eli was someone Jim could understand more, but Steve was a whole other ball game to comprehend. I mean how could Y/n be in love with Steve? Surely you would’ve told Jim how you felt something for that guy - you know, to make sure it was okay?

 

Then again, you didn’t need Jim’s approval to date someone. And he’d rather you not share your feeling for other people with him.

 

Jim took a deep breath and shook his head. “That’s great, Tobs… I’m glad for Y/n.”

 

If you were happy, then Jim needed to suck it up and be happy for you. He couldn’t sit around and throw a pity party for himself because his Y/n was in love with someone else.

 

His Y/n.

 

That had a funny sound to it. A funny, but comforting sound. Like, it just belonged - that is was too right of a sound.

 

“As long as they don’t make out in front of me, or any other PDA option, I’m good!”

 

Toby didn’t have to be some genius or have perfect vision to see that Jim was ultimately heart broken at his little white lie.

 

“Y/n never said that.” Toby admitted. “I was just trying to prove a point that you’re jealous…”

 

“I told you, I’m not jealous.”

 

“Clearly, Jimbo.”


	4. Shoo Shoo

Was this serious? I mean, were you, Y/n,  falling for this guy? Well, he wasn’t a guy… more like a troll… And that just made it worse for you to accept it.

 

He didn’t even like humans - or you in general. For some odd reason he just went out of his way to make a rude comment about you everytime the two of you were in each others presence… and vice versa.

 

It was always ‘fleshbag’ this and ‘fleshbag’ that with him. Then for you it was always ‘bag of rocks’ this and ‘bag of rocks’ that. The two of you just simply couldn’t get along.

 

It wasn’t your fault. No, you blamed the entire situation on the troll himself - Draal. He was the one who started it in the first place. All you did was stand up for Jim the first time you guys met! What was so wrong about protecting your friends? Absolutely nothing.

 

“Fleshbag, why are you still here?”

 

You let out a loud groan in annoyment and slammed down your head on the table which resulted in a thud.

 

“Go away.” Your voice was muffled by the table.

 

Draal eyed you up and down. He was confused as to why you were still in Jim’s house at this time of night. The Lady Barbara was at work and Jim had left to go to Toby’s a bit ago… so, why were you still here? You had no point of being there.

 

You heard the troll walk behind you, then heard the sound of the fridge opening. “And get out of Ms. Lake’s food, you bag of rocks!”

 

“I’m sorry, what was that? I couldn’t hear you behind that slab of wood.” Draal rolled his eyes. You didn’t live here; therefore, you could not tell him what he can or cannot do. Plus, Jim said he could eat whatever he’d like… as long as it wasn’t cats or the kitchen utensils.

 

Lifting your head from off the table, you glared at the troll’s back. “I said get out of Ms. Lake’s food!”

Draal pretended not to hear you once again. He was hungry. He wanted food. He didn’t want to hear you complain. Your voice didn’t exactly sooth him when you screeched or yelled at him.

 

“Are you - Are you ignoring me?” You laughed in disbelief.

 

Draal never ignored you - never! He always had something to say back. “What no comment? No insult? Just silence?”

 

… And he said nothing. This ticked you off just a bit.

 

A smirk played beautifully on Draal’s lips (?) as he looked in the almost empty fridge. What happened to the all the food? It was almost like a cemetery - maybe the remains of a battle - had moved into the refrigerator rather than actual food.

 

Draal shut the fridge door - he made sure not to use all his strength to slam it. “Where’s the food?”

 

“You probably ate it all. Seeing as that is all you do.”

 

“Very funny, fleshbag.”

 

You shrugged your shoulders and stood up from your seat, walking out of the kitchen. The sound of heavy thuds - belonging to Draal - followed after you. “Where are you going?”

 

“You’re asking a lot of ‘where’ questions today,” You hummed. “Feeling lost, Draal?”

 

In all honesty, Draal did feel a bit lost. He had for a whilst now. Yet, and as cheesy as it is, he did not feel lost when you were around. Something about you just gave him a sense of direction, a sense of… belonging? Is that what he could say? If that wasn’t the word, he’ll just think of the right one later.

 

“No.”

“Huh.”

 

You suddenly came to a stop, which Draal noticed last second. He managed to stop before crashing into the back of you, but he was still very close to you.

 

Your hair smelled nice. That was the first thing he noticed. It smelt of… something (fruity/flowery or simple)... The smell was not strong - to a human at least, but because Draal was a troll, his sense of smell was much stronger.

 

He liked it. The smell, that is.

 

“What smell?” You turned around completely to gaze at the troll.

 

Draal immediately stared down at you, confused. “What are you talking about?”

 

You looked back and forth, making sure no one was hiding in the shadows of the room. You crossed your arms over your chest, and tilted your head up to meet Draal’s gaze. “You just said that you ‘liked the smell’. I was asking what smell you were talking about?”

 

He said that out loud? Oops. “I never said that. You must be hearing things, fleshbag.”

 

“Right. Whatever you say, bag of rocks.” You uncrossed your arms so you could open the door that lead down to the basement - which you did. You gestered dramatically towards the doorway. “I believe that this is your stop. So, off you go. Shoo, shoo.”

 

Draal made no move to leave. “Perhaps it is you that should ‘Shoo, shoo’. This is not your dwelling.”

 

“Ms. Lake said I could stay here as long as I want!” You replied hotly. “She doesn’t even know about you, and Jim does not make payments on this house - that’s for sure - so he does not get a say. So, really, you’re kind of trespassing here.”

 

“Last I checked, you did not make,” Draal paused, and thought for a second back to the word you used. “Payments to live here either.”

 

You groaned, and ran a hand through your h/c locks in annoyment. “Yes, but I have permission from Ms. Lake. You know, that thing you don’t have.”

 

Draal only raised a brow ridge at you. When he didn’t respond, you opened your mouth and motioned to the open door once again. “Can you just go?”

 

“Why do I need to leave?”

 

“Because I’m leaving.”

 

“And why are you leaving?”

 

“Does it matter?”

 

Draal supposed it didn’t really matter. You were a grown human - an adult - and had things to do. But he didn’t understand why you had to leave so early. Draal just got upstairs! To rummage through the fridge, he’d admit, and not to talk to you… but still! Draal and you made for good conversation. At least he thought so.

 

“When will you be back?”

 

You paused, somewhat taken aback by the simple question.

 

“When will I be… back?” You repeated slowly. Draal gave a short nod in conformation. You looked down at the floor and thought about your time schedule. “Uh, sometime after three tomorrow? I think. Unless my manager holds me after my shift. Times are real dodgy with him.”

 

Draal grunted and huffed. That would be good enough. Lady Barbara would be at work and Jim would just be getting out of school.

 

“I will ‘Shoo, shoo’ now.”

 

“Good boy!” You reached up and softly tugged on his nose ring. Draal yanked his head back and growled lowly at you. Unphased, you smiled and stepped out of the way. “Go on. Have a good evening now!”

 

“You do not need to rush me.” Draal spat, but with no real harshness as he squeezed through the doorway.

 

You eyes trailed after Draal as he walked down the stairs. “If I didn’t, we’d be stuck here the rest of the day.”

 

Draal twisted his head back to you, and opened his mouth to speak.

 

SLAM!

 

But you shut the door before he could.

 

All well, he’ll just have to pick up where the two of you left off tomorrow when you come back. And we was definitely waiting for today to be over so he could see you again quicker.


	5. Pt. 2 Blinky Didn't Mean To

You had just arrived at troll market! A trip you were somewhat dreading. After the events of yesterday kept replaying in your head, you didn’t really want to go back to troll market to see Blinky.

 

It’s not that you didn’t want to see him - no, because you always wanted to see Blinky. It was just that you didn’t want to be ignored… forgotten, actually, again by the blue troll. It happened a lot, and you were beginning to grow weary of it.

 

In fact, you happened to have an argument with yourself all night about it! Half of you wanted to mention Blinky’s behavior to him, but the other half insisted that that would ruin your relationship with him - the little relationship you had left, at least. And that little bit you wanted to hole precious and dear to you.

 

Why couldn’t this be easier? Why couldn’t you be more confrontational and assertive? I mean, if you were you could march right up to Blinky and… and… Do what exactly? You didn’t want to yell at him or make him feel bad for ignoring you.

 

Okay! Maybe you did want to make him feel bad. But just a little bit - nothing major! You didn’t want Blinky to be swimming in guilt, but rather tip-toeing in it. Then again, if you made him feel bad that would just make you feel worse.

 

“Why is this so complicated?!” You lowly hissed to yourself.

 

“What is it that is complicated? Something at work, Y/n?”

 

You whipped around at the familiar, soothing voice. Your e/c eyes immediately fell onto Blinky’s blue surface. It looked a bit… dull? today. How you even noticed the difference in his rocky skin was beyond you, but you noticed and there was nothing you could do.

 

Blinky grew uncomfortable under your strange gaze. Any other time you would’ve stared at him, he would have been fine - extremely pleased even! But the way your brow was furrowed and the way you were gnawing on your lip whilst looking at him just didn’t settle quite right with Blinky. Simply put, it made him feel off.

 

“Ah, Y/n, are you alright?” Blinky questioned.

 

With a sudden realization that you had zoned out, you shook your head and let your lip fall from between your teeth. You finally met the two of the six eyes belonging to the troll and said, “Sorry. It’s been a bit of a havoc morning for me.”

 

“I see,” Blink paused briefly. “Did something happen at your place of work?”

 

“No, no. Nothing happened at work.” You replied. Your hands nervously fumbled together and your gaze dropped from Blinky’s. It was now or you would never ask. “Is it okay if we go to your place and talk, Blinky?”

 

Blinky barely heard the question fall from you lips, but he heard it nonetheless.

 

You wanted to talk? About what? Blink didn’t think he did anything wrong… Perhaps he insulted Y/n somehow by doing something trolls do normally that humans do not. Or maybe you were going to tell him that you were moving out of Arcadia - deeming it to dangerous to live now that Gunmar has escaped. Or you were going to tell him that you wanted nothing to do with him! Or, or --

 

The scenarios were running endlessly through Blinky’s mind. He began to panic as each possibility got potentially worse, but managed to keep himself composed on the outward appearance.

 

“I’ve never been one to turn down a good conversation, Y/n. You should know that.” He laughed, but it was nervous laughter.

 

That was something you did know. You knew because that was something he strived to have with you the first few months of knowing each! The same thing that has been lacking these last few months… The thing that you missed having with Blinky every day…

 

You sent the blue troll a small smile, “Lead the way then, Blinky.”

 

He gave you a single nod before walking off in the direction of his home. The two of you stayed in a tense silence - though, the tension wasn’t noticeable at all - the whole time, not really seeing a need to speak just yet.

 

As soon as the both of you entered Blinky’s home, you made your ways over to a desk that had two seats at it. The desk also happened to have several books stacked high and papers scattered absolutely everywhere, but you didn’t mind the mess and you were certain Blinky didn’t either.

 

“You’re probably --” “What did you --”

 

The two of you blurted out at the same time creating a jumbled mess of words.

 

You felt the heat crawl up your neck, and slither its way up to your cheeks. That was the first time either of you spoke different words in usion with each other. It made you feel embarrassed, though you didn’t know why.

 

Blinky watched as you ran your hand over your h/c locks. “You can carry on with what you were saying.”

 

“I was just going to say that you’re probably wondering what I wanted to talk about…” You voice trailed off quietly, not really losing any words meant to be said.

 

“Ah, yes. I admit I am curious.”

 

You took a deep breath so you could hold it until you were done with what you were about to say to the blue troll. Quickly and silently, you reherced the script you came up with last night before opening your mouth.

 

“YOUHURTME!”

 

Your hands slapped over you mouth, and your eyes went wide. What?! That is not at all close to what your script said! Oh my god, Y/n, you just - you just blurted out exactly what not to say!

 

Blinky blinked, multiple times. Did he hear you correctly? He must have mixed the words up because surely you wouldn’t say that he hurt you. There was no way he could have hurt you. If he had, he would have known and dealt with himself accordingly. It was preposterous to even think about hurting you!

 

“That is not what I meant to say!” You rushed your words. “What I meant was that I’ve noticed you ignoring me lately. I have no idea why. I have no idea what I did. But it hurts me that you’re distant now, and I cannot stand it for the life of me.”

 

That wasn’t what was on your script either, but it was what you panicked mind came up with in the 2.5 seconds it had to do so.

 

“Ignore you? I haven’t been ignoring you.”

 

Why would you even think he was ignoring you? Blinkous Galadrigal did not ignore you! In fact, he gave you just about all of his time - day in and day out whether he wanted to or not. You practically consumed his every thought. You practically controlled every bodily reaction of his! He most definitely stared at you 99.9% percent of the time! Blinky wouldn’t lie to himself about that - it was pointless.

 

In short, you happened to be Blinkous Galadrigal’s everything!

 

“Y/n, why do you think I’ve been ignoring you?”

 

Your eyes snapped down to your lap. “When we first met, you talked to me constantly! You stood close to me, and leaned over my shoulder when I was reading something. You actually touched me! Gave me some sort of physical contact! But now, you try to keep your distance from me… You barely talk to me as well. To me it seems as though you’re trying to ignore me, and I just want to know why.”

 

Blink did not exactly recall these changes in his behavior. Though if he were to look back at these past few months he could point out the changes, but just barely.

 

He hadn’t meant to ignore you. It was the truth seeing as he hadn’t even recognized the changes himself. Honestly, Blinky thought he was still giving you his undivided attention, but apparently that was not what was happening.

 

“Ah, yes, well… In all honesty, I did not even come to the realization that I happened to be ignoring you…”

 

“You didn’t know?” You looked back up at Blink with a raised brow, confused at what the blue troll was saying.

 

“I believe that is what I just said, yes.” Blinky confirmed.

 

Looking away again, you tried to process what he said in your mind. So, Blinky was ignoring you but without actually knowing he was ignoring you? It didn’t seem to make any sense to you, but you doubted that he would lie to you. You were positive you would have known if he were lying or not - Blinky always happened to do this thing when he lied that made it obvious.

 

Suddenly, four hands engulfed the two of yours which caused you to be pulled forward just a bit in your seat. Your e/c eyes latched onto two of Blinky’s. The breath you were holding in hitched and wheezed out as your rib cage collapsed in on itself just out of pure shock.

 

“Y/n,” Your name rolled off Blinky’s tongue in the most heart-stopping way. “I never - and I mean never! - meant to ignore you and cause you pain.” His solid, stone hands squeezed you squishy, flesh ones.

 

You took time to search his six eyes and facial expression. “I think I know that now, Blinky.”

 

“Good.” He lent you a short smile before it faded away. “I also apologize for the pain I did cause.”

 

It was an honest apology. Blinky really never meant to gift you with pain - he meant to gift you with happiness instead! Or something along those lines.

 

“I’d rather off myself than ever hurt you, Y/n.” Blinky removed one hand from yours (and his) and moved it to the cup your cheek. He was just doing what he felt was right - following his gut, as you would say.

 

You froze at the touch. Your eyes grew in width and your face felt as though it had caught fire. Why was Blinky groping the side of your face? Groped wasn’t the right word, but you couldn’t think of any other. You weren’t complaining, though. And you certainly weren’t about you.

 

“May I make a, ah, confession?” Blinky looked you reddened face upon and down.

 

“Uh huh.” The sounds came out a little to dreamy, but you didn’t care.

 

Blinky gulped, “I do believe I am infatuated with you.”

 

“I hope you know ‘infatuated’ kind of has a negative connotation.” You said without thinking. You wanted to hit yourself then and there. “But, no, I understand what you meant. I just - I talk too much when I get nervous. I ramble, obviously. And I say stupid things. It completely ruins everything. Kind of like now! I’m talking and ruining the moment, and I am so, so sor--”

 

You didn’t get to finish. Why? Well because the blue troll put his lips to yours. It took you a moment, but you kissed him back.

 

Honestly, you expected fireworks when it came to your first kiss. Or some big explosion of butterflies! Like how authors explained in books and how it happened on television… But you didn’t get that. Instead you got a rush of warmth that spread over your entire body. It wasn’t “spine shivering” worthy, but it didn’t have to be. It was a simple kiss, but it was enough. And honestly, what you were feeling now was way better than any fireworks or butterflies.

 

“Wow,” You breathed as the two of you seperated.

 

“Y/n, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to--”

 

You quickly cut him off. “I kissed you back.”

 

Blinky nodded slowly, but didn’t say anything. You decided to add onto your short statement. “I kissed you back because I’m infatuated with you as well, Blinky.”

 

“I do believe the word ‘infatuated’ has a negative connotation, Y/n.”

 

Quiet laughter escaped between the two of you for a few moments before you fell back into silence. However, this time, the silence held no tension - not nervous, angry tension that is.

 

You pushed yourself further out of your chair so you could lean your head against Blinky. He stiffened for a quick second at the contact before relaxing. Burying your face into the crook of his neck, you mumbled, “Don’t ignore me anymore, m’kay?”

 

Blinky’s arms tightened around your body, pulling you closer to him. “Trust me, Y/n, there is no way I can ignore you now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got stuck on the kiss part and completely bulled through that scene :) Go me! I also forgot that trolls don't know about kissing...


	6. For Draal

You stared out in the vast, empty air - it was the only thing you could focus on. That and you didn’t want to put your attention on anything else. If you did, you were afraid of the consequences that would come from it.

 

Soft echoes rang in your ears. It was most likely Blinky or one of the others talking… or maybe it was just your conflicted mind buzzing. Which ever it was, you did not want to hear it. You just wanted complete and utter silence.

 

You kept thinking back to the events that led up to this, and what you could’ve done to stop it. There wasn’t anything you could have done, you knew that, but you wanted to believe you could. It would help with the guilt.

 

Actually, it only made the guilt manifest quicker.

 

Why didn’t you do anything? Why did you just sit there? Why did you just watch whilst it happened? Did you want it to happen? You did, didn’t you?

 

Those type of questions circulated through your mind. They attacked silently and unnoticabley. You just thought they were normal things that helped with the guilt - I mean, how wrong could you be? Other than the fact that you were very wrong.

 

“Y/n, are you…” You snapped your gaze over to the young boy, Jim, waiting for him to continue.

 

He didn’t continue though. Instead, he just looked at you. Jim wanted to ask how you were doing, but he knew you would’ve lied and said you were fine. Plus, he couldn’t really bring himself to finish the question. Guilt had constricted around his heart and tugged on his tongue.

 

If you thought you were alone, swimming in that ocean of guilt and questions… well, you weren’t. Jim happened to be drowning not too far out from you.

 

Your chapped lips parted, “I’m okay.”

 

There it was. One of the most popular lies in all of history.

 

“No, you’re not.”

 

Guilt ridden e/c eyes met the sad ones belonging to the young trollhunter. You felt the pressure build up just about every on your body. Your heart happened to pick up a rapid, irregular pace and your lungs seemed to collapse on top of themselves. The brain fared no better - it was growing and pounding against your skull. Every other part of you just ached from the pressure, slowly becoming numb as the pain got worse.

 

You wanted to tear your gaze from Jim’s, but you couldn’t find the strength to do so. Somehow, you found a sort of comfort and understanding hidden within his own gaze - it brought you a small sense of relief.

 

“You don’t have to talk about it right now,” Jim tilted his head slightly. “But when you’re ready, just know that you can talk to me.”

 

“Thank you.” You voice was barely audible.

 

Jim could tell you meant it. That you weren’t just saying ‘thank you’ to get him to stop talking. “Also, I think he’d rather have you smiling right now. You know? Because he always did say he liked your smile.”

 

Jim managed to get a small, sad huff of laughter out of you. “Yeah, he did.”

 

“Smile then. For him.”

 

With the gentle demand, you offered Jim a smile - a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. There was pain behind your grin, and guilt, and every other feeling you were feeling, but it let Jim know that you were still there.

 

“For Draal.” You said.

 

“For Draal.”


	7. Shall We?

“Oh! Oh! I know, I know! Pick me, (Mr./Ms.) L/n!” Toby swung his hands high in the air, trying to catch your attention in the process.

 

“Yes, Mr. Domzalski?”

 

“The second vision thing that Macbeth saw was that bloody kid!” The young boy answered with much enthusiasm.

 

You smiled, “That is correct. Good job, Mr. Domzalski.”

 

Toby puffed his chest out proudly at your slight appraisal. You shook your head - mentality, of course - and looked about your classroom. The kids seemed either bored out of their mind or completely attentive.

 

“Can anyone tell me what Macbeth’s reaction was to this particular apparition?” You questioned, walking up and down the isle of chairs. No one raised their hand. “Not one of you? Hmm, perhaps a guess then? Mr. Palchuk?”

 

The blonde boy snapped his head up and looked at you with wide eyes. It was an obvious sign that he had not been paying attention.

 

“Uh, what was the question, (ma’am/sir)?” Steve scratched the back of his neck, uncomfortable with the all the attention of the class placed upon him.

 

Before you could open your mouth to ask the question again, the bell rang and all the students collected their items.

 

“I want you all to read the rest of Act IV and begin Act V tonight! You may or may not have a quiz over Act IV tomorrow!” You yelled as everyone hurdled out you door, ready to head off to lunch.

 

As soon as all the students were out, you sighed - it was a long and overdue breath you had been holding in. Sure, you loved your job and most of the children that came with it, but that didn’t make it any less stressful on your part.

 

Everyday you had papers to grade, and every other month or so you had angry parents to deal with because they blamed you for their kid’s failing grade… but let’s not get into that. You didn’t need to stress yourself out any more.

 

You moved out of the center of the room and walked over to your desk - you crashed down in the swirly chair that sat there. There wasn’t much on your desk other than a laptop, a copy of Macbeth, pens and pencils, and some papers. So, you decided to take the moment to yourself and you laid your head down on the cool wood.

 

Tired. That was another word you would use to describe your current state. Being a teacher also meant you didn’t get any sleep. And thus you kind of hated your teenage self for never taking the advantage of getting that extra sleep you could so desperately use right about now.

 

Suddenly a knock echoed throughout the empty room. You picked your head up quickly and composed yourself back to a professional state. Your e/c widened in half surprise at the person who stood in the doorway.

 

“Mr. Strickler!” You jumped up from your seat. “What brings you down to the English hallway? And more specifically, my classroom?”

 

The older man lent you a small smile. “I was just on my way to the teachers’ lounge to get another cup of coffee when I noticed you were still in your room. And I thought, why not stop by and see how my colleague was doing.”

 

Walter would be have been lying if he said he wasn’t amused by the confusion on your face. You’ve always been an odd one to him - not in a bad way though! In fact, you were odd to him in the opposite. I suppose that Walter just found you intriguing for your oddness and of course many other things.

 

The man had found you intriguing ever since you walked into the school and applied for the english teachers position. There was just a certain pull he felt towards you. Call Walter cliche - or stupid, definitely stupid - but he thought of you as a bright light and himself a moth being drawn towards said light that was you.

 

“So, how are you, Y/n?” Walter asked once he realized you hadn’t said anything.

 

“Good!” You shouted.

 

Shouted. You had not meant to shout. It was meant to be a calm, collected response… not something rushed and loud.

 

You brushed your fingers through your h/c hair before you intertwined them together nervously. “I’m sorry. That… that didn’t come out the way I meant for it to. But, um, how are you, Mr. Strickler?”

 

“It is quite alright. We could all use some excitement in our lives.” Walter smiled at you and leaned against the doorway. “And I am doing well. Thank you for asking, Y/n.”

 

“You asked me first, Mr. Strickler.”

 

“You can call me Walter, you know.” The slightly older man raised a brow.

 

You nodded slowly, taking in the short suggestion - or was it a demand? It doesn’t really matter because it still took you awhile to process.

 

I mean, you knew you could call him by his first name. This wasn’t the first time Walter told you it was okay to. But you felt that if you started calling him ‘Walter’ and not ‘Mr. Strickler’ then your feelings for him would just get worse.

 

Yes, you had feelings for your colleague. And yes, you tried to avoid them. But of course avoiding your feelings for Walter only made them develop quicker. It was kind of like a game of cat and mouse - that cat being the feelings and the mouse being you. The only thing was that every round of the game the cat ended up catching the mouse.

 

Walter watched as you somewhat froze. “Ah, Y/n?”

 

“Mr. Strickler?”

 

You were never going to call him ‘Walter’, were you? It didn’t particularly bother Walter that you weren’t… it just made him feel strained in a way.

 

“Would you care to join me to get a cup of coffee?”

 

“Oh, I don’t really drink coffee.”

 

The simple sentence fell through your lips without much thought. And you felt the embarrassment and horror creep up behind you as you watched a frown decorate Walter’s lips. You didn’t mean to say it like that… just like you didn’t mean to say a lot of things a certain way.

 

“No, wait. That also didn’t come out right,” You winced and took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean it like, ‘Oh, I don’t like coffee because I don’t want to go with you’. I mean it as a ‘I actually don’t like coffee’.”

 

“You… don’t like coffee?” Walter asked slowly.

 

Your e/c looked away for second before meeting Walter’s. “No, not really. Coffee doesn’t do me any justice like it used to.”

 

“How do you survive then, Y/n?”

 

“I just manage, I suppose.”

 

A short chuckle escaped through Walter’s lips. “Well then. Would you still like to join me? I am certain there’s water or juice of sorts in the fridge.”

 

“I…”

 

God. What were you supposed to do? Take up the offer and spend some time with Walter or refuse the offer and regret it for the rest of your life? Let your feeling win or let the logical, professional option top? It seemed like such a simple thing to choose between, but it really wasn’t.

 

“Okay, yeah. Sure.” You said without much confidence.

 

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Y/n.”

 

“But I want to.”

 

“Well, alright then. As long as you want to, Y/n.” Walter took a step out of the doorway. “I would hate to make you feel pressured into doing anything you didn’t want.”

 

You felt a small smile tug at the corners of your lips. “Thank you… Walter.”

 

His name sounded foreign as it rolled off your tongue, but Walter liked it. The older man tilted his towards the teachers lounge. “Shall we then?”

 

“We shall.”


	8. Later

You stared at the board in front of the classroom, but you weren’t paying attention to any of the numbers being written there. You were bored. You already knew what you were doing in math seeing as Ms. Janeth went over this unit last week - you weren’t about to call her out on that, though.

 

Your cheek rested in the palm of your hand and your eyelids started to droop. The words leaving Ms. Janeth’s mouth stopped completely rather than coming out blurred. You weren’t tired! You found it near impossible to fall asleep in class… but the boredom was getting to you and you found it hard to look at the board any longer.

 

Suddenly, something soft-ish collided with your free cheek. You jumped a little in your seat and your e/c went wide. You swirled your head back and forth slowly - as to not draw Ms. Janeth’s attention to you.

 

“Psst!”

 

You snapped your gaze over to the latino boy sitting in the desk next to you. He was staring at you with a wide grin plastered on his face. You mouthed a simple ‘What?’ in question.

 

The latino boy’s brown eyes snapped down multiple times towards the floor. You sat in your desk, confused at what he was doing.

 

Not that this confusing behavior surprised you. The latino boy was always confusing, only making sense on rare occasions. He was still a friend of yours though, so you never really vocally complained about it. At least not in front of anyone other than the latino boy himself.

 

“Mr. Tarron! (Mr./Ms.) L/n!” Ms. Janeth screeched, halting right in the middle of her lesson.

 

The two of you whipped your attention back to the front of the classroom, and more specifically on Ms. Janeth. The woman looked quite furious and seemed to be a bit red in the face - likely out of anger or annoyment. “Would the two of you like to stop longingly gazing into each other's eyes and resume the class?” A few snickers and murmurs echoed around you.

 

“I was not doing the gazing at Y/n, Miss Janeth! I was only trying to tell them something of importance, yes?”

 

“And what would be so important as for you to interrupt my class, Mr. Tarron?”

 

A silent groan escaped between your lips, and you sunk down in your seat - you wanted to hide away forever. Krel  continuing to talk was only going to make the situation worse for both of you and you did not want to spend your evening stuck in detention.

 

Krel noticed how you shrunk away, and mentally smirked. “I just wanted to tell Y/n that their smile is,” Krel paused to think of the word these people used. “Beautiful!”

 

Your eyes wide once more, you stared at the latino boy. Beautiful? Did he really just call your smile beautiful? In front of the entire classroom at that! Ugh! This was just your day, huh.

 

The class uproared in laughter and Krel didn’t understand why. Perhaps he used the wrong word and actually insulted you. If he did, hopefully you understood that that wasn’t exactly what he was trying to say.

 

He really did mean to call your smile beautiful; however, in that moment, he was just saying it to try and further your embarrassment. Krel liked it when your face screwed up and your e/c eyes looked anywhere but up. He also thought it was quite funny when you tried to shrink away, making yourself smaller to everyone and everything.

 

Krel tilted his head to the side, still confused. “Did I say something wrong?”

 

“No, Mr. Tarron,” Ms. Janeth said. “But refrain from making any more comments. Keep them for after class, perhaps? As well as just between (Mr./Ms.) L/n and you.”

 

A shrug was all the older woman received from the latino boy. She could only thank God that he didn’t get up out of his seat and try to hug her like all those other times. Ms. Janeth shivered at the thought before turning back to the whiteboard. “Now, back to the lesson! When you replace the ‘x’ from the…”

 

You drowned out everything after that just like earlier, but now there were actual thoughts running through your mind instead of silence. You were used to Krel’s oddly timed compliments and remarks. But beautiful? He’s never used that word before. You didn’t even think he knew the word! Krel told you that Cantaloupia translated most of english words differently.

 

Not that you actually believed ‘Cantaloupia’ was a real place considering nothing came up when you researched it. Yet, you didn’t want to call Krel a liar. If he’s not telling you the truth, then there has to be a good reason behind it. There just has to be!

 

But there was that little nagging voice in the back of your head that told you that Krel was just lying to you to lie - to use you, in short. You have no idea what he would get out of using you because you’re life wasn’t all that! There was nothing special to it. In fact, your life was pretty average… below average.

 

The class dragged on. Your mind was full of comments, questions, and concerns running back and forth. You could feel Krel’s gaze on you here and there throughout the time remaining, but you didn’t look back at him. You didn’t think it would have helped your current state of confusion and slight suspicion of the latino boy.

 

And soon, the bell rang to dismiss everyone to their next class.

 

You went to go put you math binder into your backpack, but stopped when you saw a crumpled ball of paper right beside your desk. You stuffed the binder away, grabbed the paper, and got out of your desk.

 

“Finally! You found what I threw at you!” Krel’s voice bounced in pitch and changed in tone at the exclamation.

 

“Why would you throw it at me?”

 

“You were going to sleep,” Krel bent down, grabbed your bag and shoved it in your hands. A silent ‘thanks’ passed through your lips. “Also, I wanted to give you a message.”

 

You threw your bag over your shoulder, glancing at the paper in your hand. “A message? Is it any more embarrassing than that comment you made in class?”

 

The two of you walked towards the door and exited the classroom. Out in the hall, Krel attached himself to your hip immediately - he bumped into your side quite often, but you didn’t care in the slightest.

 

“You have to open the paper to read, Y/n.”

 

You eyed the latino boy. “It’s not anything nasty, is it?”

 

Krel laughed and slung his arm around your waist, drawing you closer to his body. Surprisingly, he didn’t radiate any body heat - instead, the latino boy’s body emitted surges of… electricity? You didn’t know what else to call it. Whenever Krel touched you it made your whole body tingle delightfully, like you were being shocked just a tad bit.

 

“Just open it.”

 

“That doesn’t answer my question, Krel.”

 

“Kleb! Just open it, Y/n!”

 

You rolled your eyes at the odd substitution of a curse word. You shifted the paper into both hands and began to uncrumple it slowly. E/c eyes widened once the paper came completely undone, and confusion set in quickly.

 

You flipped the paper from back to back. You opened your mouth and said, “It’s blank.”

 

Krel literally through a blank, crumpled up piece of paper at you and made some big deal out of it - told you there was some message written on it for you.

 

“I know,” Krel pulled you over to your locker. “That is because I had wanted to be telling you, ah, face-to-face.”

 

“Alright. Tell me then.”

 

“Later.”

 

“Later?”

 

Krel smiled and unhooked himself from you. “You will be to going with me later.”

 

It wasn’t a question or a suggestion. It was something set in stone. Sure, you could still say no and he would respect that, but you didn’t want to say no.

 

“Um, alright?” The simple response came out of your mouth in the form of a question, unsure of how to exactly respond. “What time later?”

 

“Does five o’clock sound good?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“Good! I will see you ‘later’ then, Y/n!” With that, the latino boy jogged away leaving you most utterly confused.


	9. Pt. 2 Later

You stood patiently outside, leaning against Krel’s locker. The school day had ended and you always made it outside before Krel - and his sister - ever did, so you waited for him each day.

 

It was a hot day, but a slight breeze danced by here and there - it cooled your heated skin. Your skin was not only hot from the actual heat, it was also hot from your thoughts running around. Just earlier that day, Krel had told you that you were going to be with him later because he wanted to tell you something.

 

Later.

 

Huh, that single word was still suck in your head. You kept thinking about ‘later’ and what it would entail for you. Quite frankly, you kept coming up with unrealistic scenarios where Krel took things a bit further in your relationship. It just didn’t seem possible to you that the latino boy would like you in that way.

 

You didn’t understand how he would like you - simply you. There wasn’t anything wrong with! You just didn’t have the confidence and securities that you oh-so often put out on display for everyone to see… The inside was a very different story. It always was.

 

Romance, relationships, the whole shebang! That wasn’t you because you didn’t know how to act or pursue one correctly. Don’t get it wrong, you have been in a relationship before, but you went about it too quickly; therefore, you had pursued it incorrectly.

 

“Lively! Waiting for little brother as always.”

 

Your e/c snapped over to a tall blonde who happened to be smiling brightly at you. “I’m waiting for you too, Aja.”

 

“You are lying, yes?” Aja questioned as she opened the locker next to Krel’s. The blonde shoved her books into the locker before slamming it shut. “Y/n is here for you, correct little brother? And not me?”

 

The latino boy rolled his eyes and said, “Stop it, Aja.”

 

Krel came and stood in front of you, waiting for you to move off his locker. You smirked and planted your feet, crossing your arms over your chest - you had no intention of moving quite yet. You watched as a dark brow of Krel’s raised in question right before his own smirk settled on his features.

 

“Yes, Krel?” You sweetly asked.

 

“I do believe that is my locker there,” Krel pointed to the locker. “Behind you, Y/n.”

 

You turned your head to inspect the latino boy’s locker as if you hadn’t known that it was his at all. “So it would seem…” Your head turned back and your eyes immediately locked with Krel’s.

 

The air passed between the two of you thickley, but comfortably. It definitely wasn’t unseen by any of those around you, but no one cared enough to say anything about the tension. You obviously didn’t mind because you did not want to deal with any more embarrassment that day or any day following.

 

Your eyes twitched slightly, slowly searching Krel’s own. There was something unnatural about the brown of his eyes - like they colour belonged, but at the same time it didn’t.

 

A moment passed and Krel really had no idea what to do. He was a bit lost. Was he supposed to say something? Was he supposed to say silent? Did he need to move close? Move back? There wasn’t any rules for this! Mother never told him the rules for this.

 

The latino boy was confused. He didn’t let it show though, or at least tried not to let it show. Krel wanted you to stay where you were and not move away from him. If he had shown that he was confused, you probably would have gotten off his locker - you would’ve stepped back and too far away.

 

Aja watched the scene from the side lines and tilted her head, “Are you going to keep staring at each other all day?”

 

What?

 

Krel was whipped back into reality, suddenly aware that his big sister was still present. Sometimes - in moments like this - Krel wished he didn’t have a sibling. Then, there would be no one to interrupt him or Y/n.

 

“We need to get back to Mother, little brother.” Aja bounced around just a bit, stressing out on the word ‘mother’.

 

“Alright, alright!” Krel exclaimed, annoyed with his sister.

 

Shaking your head, you stepped out of Krel’s way so he could finally get to his locker. The latino boy took his time with the combination - more so due to the fact he still didn’t understand how it worked.

 

You waited until he was finished to speak. “Are you picking me up at five or…?”

 

“I will come to your house to get you.”

 

“Well, what do I wear then?”

 

“Uh, clothes?” Krel offered.

 

Clothes. Good answer. You noticed that Krel didn’t look as though he was kidding, but rather being very serious. Was the latino boy that confused about it?

 

“Okay… What kind of clothes, Krel?” You questioned.

 

“The kind you put on? Kleb, Y/n, I thought you knew to wear clothes!”

 

Seriously? You doubted that Krel was being serious, but something about his facial experience made you think otherwise. Because your friend - if you could even still consider him a friend at this point in your feelings - genuinely looked confused.

 

You ran a hand through your h/c hair before pinching the bridge of your nose. You closed your eyes and clenched your teeth together briefly before recomposing yourself to your previous manner. “Is what I’m wearing right now good?”

 

Brown eyes snapped up and down your form. And just for a second - a second - you regretted asking the latino boy because the heat quickly crawled up your neck. It’s not that you didn’t like the attention - you did - it was the fact that it was Krel.

 

Had it been any other boy looking at you, you most likely would have been repulsed. You only had eyes for the latino boy that came to America from someplace - what you thought was made up - called Cantaloupia!

 

The red fascinated Krel. His people never changed colour, never really “glowed” like Y/n did - how Y/n radiated just about everyday. Krel just loved how different you were from everyone else he’s ever known! It made you special.

 

“Yes, that is fine.” Krel’s voice came out barely above a whisper, lacking it’s usual confidence.

 

It was that that struck you as odd. Krel was pretty always confident in his speech, in how he said everything, but saying what you were wearing was fine made his confidence trickle down. And that did not boost your own confidence.

 

You looked down over your own clothes, “Are you sure?”

 

Krel opened his mouth to reassure you, but Aja beat him to it. “C’mon, little brother! You are taking forever!”

 

“Alright, Aja, I’m coming!” Krel seethed.

 

“I’m going to let you go so Aja doesn’t murder you.” You joked and laughed at your own comment, but only to relieve some of the awkwardness.

 

“She could try all she wants, but my sister would never succeed.”

 

“Right.” You emphasised on the ‘t’ sound. “I’ll see you, Krel.”

 

“Later, yes?”

 

“Later. Just like you said.”

 

Your legs reluctantly moved to walk away from the latino boy. You got a bit ways away until you heard him shout your name, catching your full attention once more. Body turned back towards him, you raised a h/c brow. “What, Krel?”

 

“You look good, Y/n.” He smiled, showing off his perfectly white teeth.

 

“Thanks.” You replied. Krel’s smile widened and he gave you a short wave before he went off with Aja in their own direction.

 

You look good, Y/n. Welp, those words were going to be replaying in your mind, in Krel’s voice, for the rest of your life and you were going to enjoy every second of it.


	10. How Jim Thought and Fell {Jim/Reader}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'll be putting a quote, lyric, a little bit of a poem, etc, at the beginning of each Imagine - they, of course, are not mine. They won't have anything to do with the chapter unless I say otherwise.

_"There is a swelling storm_

_And I'm caught up in the middle of it all."_

 

 

__

What he thinks of you:

 

James Lake Junior absolutely considered you his everything. He thought of you as his everything. There wasn’t one thing you could do that could change his mind about that simple fact - honestly, there wasn’t anything.

 

You were the sun that Jim so often craved just as a young plant would. The trollhunter thought of you as his replenisher, constantly refilling him with joy that comes from your rays of light. You allowed him growth - to mature just a bit more into the adult world in a normal way, and not by near death experiences.

 

But unlike the sun, you did not disappear at night and let the moon come out of its hiding. No, you stayed with Jim through the night as you did in the day. Though maybe not in the physical aspect, it was definitely in an emotional one.

 

Jim had always thought you were dream-like. So, what’s more fitting than you actually greeting him every night when he closed his eyes? To Jim, it only proved he thought right. That you were indeed dream-like. But, do not drag Jim into the wrong with this simple statement. He only means well when he says he thinks of you as a dream - it was not an intention to make you be perceived as fake.

 

You were thought of as a flame by our dear trollhunter. A flame that had set him to fire and turned him to ashes, but from those ashes arose a new being - a being that depicts health and prosperity. It was a powerful thing to be reborn into something more powerful than what you were in your final moments before dissolving into ashes.

 

However, you were also the salt water in which kept him afloat and yet could potentially drown him all at once. You wrapped yourself around the trollhunter, holding him up, but you also filled his lungs making it impossible to breath. Jim never minded though. He liked the mixed feeling of being lifted up and drowning in simply just you.

 

Jim thought you were beautiful. You may not have had supermodel looks, or even the body of one, but he couldn’t care less - he thought you were beautiful as you, not as anyone else. And it wasn’t even your looks he praised, it was what was hidden beneath your skin. It was your personality that he adored, that he thought about the most.

 

Well, that was kind of a lie. More recently Jim actually thought about the way you fought during the night excursions that frequently happened. It was a magnificent sight - it honestly was. You were somewhat graceful and somewhat clumsy, but that was mostly due to the fact that you were still new at the whole fighting thing.

 

But Jim still thought your fighting skills were good - better than Toby’s and Claire’s, that’s for sure! It was a dance when it came to you, not a battle. And yes, the trollhunter was being cliche with his words, thoughts, etcetera.

 

And he would be cliche with you for as long as he can.

  
  
  


How he fell for:

 

  * Jim, Toby, and you were in gym class. You know, it was a normal day and all of you were a bit tired from the night before.



 

  * You and Toby would be arguing about something that happened last night.



 

  * It was about who looked the best whilst fighting.



 

  * Jim is totally distracted. He doesn’t know why, but he’s been thinking about Y/n a lot recently. It was probably because you almost died a week ago.



 

  * Coach Lawrence decided it would be best for everyone to play a game of dodgeball. Claire got to sit out on accounts of what happened last time.



 

  * The trollhunter didn’t hear.



 

  * You punched Jim’s arm.



 

  * “Ow. What was that for?” Jim said, rubbing his upper arm.



 

  * “Don’t be a baby, Jimmy boy. You definitely got hit way harder last night by that one guy last night! Now c’mon. It’s dodgeball today.”



 

  * Toby was not so pumped.



 

  * You three are on a team with Eli and Shannon. Mary insisted that she and Darci sit out with Claire for “emotional support” - Coach let them.



 

  * On the other team was Steve and his goons. So, they very much outnumbered the five of you… but Coach didn’t really care about power balance.



 

  * Steve was still a jerk.



 

  * Unfortunately, Shannon was the first out.



 

  * Eli lasted longer than you thought and actually managed to get someone out.



 

  * Jim was flipping and flopping all over the place like some acrobat.



 

  * You was dodging like normal, throwing balls here and there at the other team.



 

  * You got two people out.



 

  * “Y/l/n! Keep the shots above the waist!”



 

  * Poor Toby got hit not only once, but three times.



 

  * “Walk it off, Domzalski!”



 

  * Incoherent words from Toby. Don’t worry though, he’s alright.



 

  * Soon, it was just Jim and you against Steve.



 

  * Steve was not worried. He could take Lake and Y/l/n all by himself, easy peasy. You know, cause Lake was a string-bean and Y/l/n was just… Y/l/n.



 

  * Insults were being thrown out. Only by Steve, Jim, and Coach Lawrence though.



 

  * At that point, Steve wasn’t even aiming at you anymore.



 

  * You crossed your arms over your chest and just kind of watched the match play out because it was utterly ridiculous.



 

  * And then suddenly Steve threw a low blow.
  * Jim wheezed and crumbled down the gym floor right where he was standing.



 

  * Steve whooped and hollered in victory.



 

  * “Ouch. You alright there, Jimmy boy?”



 

  * Wheezing.



 

  * You picked up on of the red dodgeballs and took your aim the the blonde boy. Palchuk was about to eat the rubber made out of it.



 

  * “Hey, Palchuk!”



 

  * Steve swung around and you immediately released the ball. The ball hit him right between the eyes before he had anytime to process the action and what was happening.



 

  * With a thud, Steve dropped to the ground.



 

  * “What have I told you about head shots and low blows, Y/l/n!?”



 

  * “Palchuk literally just shot a low blow at Jim, Coach! Why are you yelling at me about it?”



 

  * “Go see Principle Strickler. Oh, and on your way, take Lake to the nurse!”



 

  * You groaned, but complied.



 

  * Jim didn’t even realise you hovered over his pained form. He was to busy replaying what just happened in his head.



 

  * You, Y/n, made an “illegal” move and talked back to Coach just because of… him?



 

  * He’s just a confused boy at the moment.



 

  * “Let’s go, Jimmy boy, and get you to the nurse.” You stuck your hand out to help Jim to his feet. You noticed that the trollhunter just kind of stared at your face. “Don’t worry you can lean on me or whatever for support.”



 

  * Jim grasped your hand, and you yanked him up with all your strength. The boy might have been a string-bean but he was definitely packing some hidden weight somewhere.



 

  * You wrapped one arm under Jim’s own arms and another around his waist. Jim happened to be taller than you, so he leaned against your smaller figure easily.



 

  * “Uh, thanks… Y/n.”



 

  * “Just be glad I care about you, Jim.”



 

  * You said Jim. You never called Jim ‘Jim’ unless you were being serious.



 

  * Words kept spilling out of your mouth, but they were all blurred. Jim couldn’t make any of what you said out. He was far too focused on your headshot and how you called him by his first name.



 

  * Jim seemed to get even heavier in your grasp, and you looked over to the boy in concern.



 

  * Jim was way too red in the face.



 

  * “Woah. Steve’s low blow has got you mad red.”



 

  * It wasn’t Steve’s low blow that was the culprit… it happened to just be you - you as a whole.



 

  * You picked up your pace and practically dragged Jim through the hallways towards the Nurse’s office.



 

  * The two of you finally arrived outside the Nurse’s office.



 

  * “This is where I leave you, Jimmy boy.” You unwrapped your arms from around him and pushed him gently against the wall so he could lean on something else.



 

  * “Wait, what?”



 

  * “We’re at your designated spot! You know, the Nurse’s office? Where Coach told me to take you before I face our dear changeling principle.”



 

  * “Right. Sorry, I forgot, Y/n.”



 

  * You sent Jim an innocent wink and said, “I’ll tell Strickler you said ‘hi’!”



 

  * “Uh, yeah, okay…”



 

  * “I’ll meet you by the bike racks!”



 

  * And then you skipped off towards Strickler’s office happier than you should have been considering who you were about to talk to.



 

  * Right then and there, watching as you skipped down the hall, Jim thought his heart jumped up in his throat… that or it was about to explode in his chest.



 

  * You were his friend. Gah! What was he doing? You weren’t supposed to be making him feel this way - you know, the way he used to feel whenever he looked at Claire.



 

  * It was your fault. If you hadn’t thrown that ball right at Steve’s face, then he wouldn’t be feeling like he was.



 

  * At that moment, the trollhunter knew. He knew that he just ultimately fell for you when that ball collided with Steve’s face. Jim didn’t know why it was that action of yours that made him realise it, but he didn’t care.



 

  * Jim could now feel the heat that radiated off his skin. He was so hot.



 

  * “Mr. Lake, what are you doing out here?”



 

  * “I got, um, hurt in gym?”



 

  * Jim was shuffled into the Nurse’s office.




	11. Always Been Yours {Gunmar/Troll! Female! Reader}

_"And if there's a reason I'm still alive_

_When everyone who loves me has died_

_I'm willing to wait for it."_

 

 

Bular watched from the shadows, crouched to the floor. He could practically taste the minerals bundled together beneath him, he could feel them move as he shifted, and he could hear them grinding up against his own surface. The troll relished in the moment; however, he knew not to for very long. It was one of the few things he was taught.

 

A pair of glowing orbs followed their prey, watching for any indication of knowledge of his being there. There was none - at least from what Bular could tell.   
  


Good, very good.

 

He wanted to pounce as soon as his prey passed, but he didn’t. It would have been stupid of him to do so. One false move in that approach and he could’ve been caught out of the corner of the prey’s eye. Bular didn’t want that to happen.

 

Seconds ticked by and the dark heir already begun to grow impatient. His father rarely touched on patience in his training; therefore, Bular himself was rather careless with time… with waiting. It was irritating to be in his position, to have everything in slow motion whilst wanting nothing more than to take action.

 

A huff of air escaped through Bular’s snout. And it was when his prey had paused in a split, almost unnoticeable second that the troll realized his mistake. It was then or never, Bular had decided before ripping himself from out of the shadows.  
  
“Ahhhhhh!” The tiny battle cry echoed through the cavern halls.

 

The cry, however, turned into a shriek of surprise real quick. “Put me down!”

 

“Now, now, my little prince,” You cooed, gripping the small troll to keep him from jostling about in your arms. “You’ve been caught. Though, I am rather pleased with your performance today considering you lasted much longer than the last.”

 

You received a glare from the whelp in your arms, but simply ignored it. You brought Bular up to your face and nuzzled into him lovingly. “Do not worry, my little prince. One day you will be a hardened and great warrior like your father.”

 

Bular pushed your face away from his roughly and yanked on the set of horns atop your head. “And what if I want to be like you, mother?”  
  
“I’m not much of a warrior.”

 

That was a complete lie. It was a lie you stuck by ever since your son was born. Truth was you were once a warrior - one of the best! But you were known throughout troll kind for all the wrong reasons, for all the wrong things you did.

 

Y/n the Ripper. Y/n the Inconceivable. Y/n the Decimator. There were many names you were given, some more horrible than the last. However, each name had described you perfectly! At that time of your life, that is.

 

You were ruthless in your younger days. Taking one’s life was but a game all those years ago, and it was fun! Each round of the game was different - unique - and gave you a rush of adrenalin that was oh-so special in itself. It was a feeling you have never been able to achieve elsewhere.

 

Everything about your past life seemed to fade before you ever so slowly once you met your mate, your lover, your king - Gunmar. It wasn’t that he changed you because in all honesty the two of you were every bit the same with little differences. It was the fact that you wanted a family with the troll. And you couldn’t exactly carry on your life as it was with a whelp in the picture.

 

There wasn’t regret in your decision to drop your… interesting hobby. No, not all. Giving it up to raise Bular was something you would never regret. He was your child and you’d be damned if you couldn’t be there for him.

 

“But you go out and fight.”

 

The loud voice of Bular brought you out of your thoughts. You couldn’t help but allow a wide smile to cross your stone face and a soft chuckle rattle your chest. “I only go out and fight when it is needed. I am but the last line of defense for your father’s forces, my little prince.”

 

Bular’s pout made your heart constrict gently, but you did nothing other than roll your e/c eyes at your pouty child and set him down on the ground.

 

“Come, Bular, let us go find your father.” A hand outreached down towards the dark troll, which the small creature accepted it reluctantly.

 

You took your time walking, taking shorter strides than usual that way Bular could keep up. Keep in mind, his legs were much shorter than yours.

 

It was a silent walk through the caverns between the two of you. Every now and then you spoke to Bular, sharing with him some of the secret passageways or said soothing words whenever he tripped over his own feet. He never truly fell though, fore his hand was gripped tightly in your own.

 

Before you entered the throne room, you heard two familiar voices - one belonging to your beloved king and the other to a newer member of the Gumm-gumm army. Physically entering the room, the two came into your sight.

 

“I speak the truth to you, my Lord,” The smaller of the two stated. “Deya is planning to attack your troops from the East.”

 

“And yet I hear differently.” Gunmar growled lowly, staring down his newly found advisor. “There are whispers that Deya is coming from the North. Tell me, my Queen,” His sudden acknowledgement was to no surprise. “Which rumour do you trust?”

 

Picking Bular up and resting him on you hip, you put a finger to your mouth in a gesture to tell your whelp not to speak and then walked over to the two others in the room. “I do believe Dictatious would not lie to us.” Your eyes flickered over to the green troll and you offered him a nod of reassurance. “He has proved his loyalty to you time and time again, my King. If there were any ill intentions, I am sure it would have been caught at the start of this.”

 

Gunmar looked over you and his son attached to your hip. Momentarily, he forgot that Dictatious was even in the throne room amongst him and his family.

 

“I see…” The Gumm-gumm warrior breathed.

 

You seemed to take that as your que to continue speaking. “Seeing as Deya is coming from East, we will need to prepare the troops for such an attack. However, we cannot allow the enemy to know of our knowledge of said attack. Should Deya or one of her trolls find out that we knew of her plan… surely they would figure out there is a spy amongst them. And that is not an epidemic we face during this critical time.”

 

Pausing, you shifted Bular from one hip to the other. E/c eyes skated over to Gunmar, then Dictatious - neither moved to speak. Not very talkative once the Queen opened her pretty mouth, were they?

 

“Dictatious cannot be found out. It would ruin everything,” You emphasized on the word ‘everything’, stressing its importance. “Everything we’ve thus far built up. All of it torn down in seconds should things take a turn for the worse.”

 

You sighed, took a deep breath, then continued. “That being said, I believe it is time for you to return to your home, Dictatious. Should you stay any longer, I fear that that mind of your brother’s will begin to wander in directions it should not.”

 

“I - That would - uh…” Dictatious stuttered over his word before he quickly recollected himself. “You are very correct, your Majesty.”

 

The six-eyed troll would never admit out loud, but Y/n most definitely intimidated him far more than Gunmar ever did. There was just that air around you that screamed dominance and bloody murder; and yet, your outward appearance was nothing of the sort. Outwardly you were always graceful, elegant, calm. You were all that and much more in the midst of the war taking place, it was frightening and attractive all at once for Dictatious.

 

And in all honesty, you were the main - if not the only - reason Dictatious decided to betray his people… his brother. Dictatious felt as though he could trust with his life without a question or doubt in mind, and trust he did.

 

“I will leave right away.” With that, Dictatious bowed to both Gunmar and Y/n with the young prince in her arms. The green troll pulled the hood of his clock onto his head and over his eyes before finally taking his leave.

 

Gunmar waited until Dictatious disappeared completely from his sight and he could no longer hear his footsteps walking down the cavern hall to open his mouth to speak. A hand in front of Gunmar’s mouth stopped him from talking though.

 

“No more talk of battle strategies. Or this war in its entirety.” You said sternly.

 

“You did not know what I was going to say.” The larger troll retorted.

 

A funny sounding snort came from Y/n as she shoved Bular into Gunmar’s empty arms. Rolling his eyes, Gunmar unceremoniously dropped his son to the ground. The little whelp groaned upon impact, but wasn’t hurt in any shape or form.

 

“Gunmar! You cannot go around dropping our son like that!”

 

“He was barely high enough off the floor to cause any damage.” Gunmar grunted.

 

Bular rolled in the dust and dirt that graced the stone floor. Once he was done, he shook himself clean… or well, just less dirty. Glancing up, Bular noticed both his parents stares - his father’s being an expression of pride and his mother’s being full of warmth.

 

“You are going to need to teach a lesson on patience, Gunmar.” You dropped to your knees and sat beside your son. Your fingers ran through the tufts of hair on Bular, shaking it free of anymore filth. “Your son seems to have none. And I’m beginning to wonder where he got it from.”

 

You stared up at your mate knowingly from under an umbrella of eyelashes because you knew exactly where Bular got his lack of patience from.

 

“Ah, so he is now my son?” Gunmar came to sit behind you and burrowed his face into the crook of your neck, careful of his large horns as to not knock you out with them or injure you in anyway. He took a long breath and inhaled your intoxicating scent.

 

“He’s always been your son.”

 

“I’m right here!”

 

Gunmar lifted his head from Y/n neck to peer down at his son. “Well spotted, my son. What is your point?”

 

The troll whelp mumbled something under his breath and climbed into his mother’s lap. Bular didn’t stop there however, he continued his climbed up his father’s arm until he sat directly on his (Gunmar’s) head and leaned against his own mother’s head.

 

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not there.” Bular huffed, grabbing fistfuls of Y/n’s hair between his tiny fingers.

 

“Ouch!” You hissed softly. “Don’t be so rough, my little prince.”

 

“He’s my son. Let him be rough.”

 

“Ah, so he is now you son?” You mocked Gunmar’s earlier words.

 

“He’s always been my son.”

 

“I’m still right here!”


	12. Lies {Angor Rot/Reader}

_ "You're afraid to meet someone _

_ 'Cause you've been burned, you've been burned, you've been burned  
_

_ Love is good until it's gone _

_ That's what you learned, what you've learned, what you've learned." _

 

 

__

He didn’t know what he could do. Every idea that came into his mind seemed pointless to even attempt. There was not a thing he could come up with without turning a corner and hitting a wall.

 

This was an issue he didn’t know how to handle. It was a first for him. And as of late, there had been many situations of this - many ‘first time’ things happening. It was completely and utterly abnormal. These wasn’t supposed to be anything that could catch him off guard anymore. He had been through and seen so much in a single lifetime - and a second lifetime - that there shouldn’t be surprises. And yet, there was.

 

You.

 

Everything about you and everything concerning you had caught him off guard and surprised him on a day-to-day basis. You were so different from him… So much better than he was and ever could be.

 

He didn’t understand his own fascination. All he knew was that the moment your fist connected with his jaw, he was drawn to you. He had questions, and he wanted answers; however, he couldn’t exactly gain said answers then. Now, though, he could ask all he wanted and you would answer.

 

The questions he had were never asked. He simply didn’t know how to ask you anything.

 

Why was this such an obstacle to overcome? Why did you have to be some great puzzle he ever so wanted to solve? As though his last breath, his life, had depended on it?

 

Maybe it was because you didn’t quite fit in with the trollhunter and his friends. Maybe it was because you wore your h/c hair differently every now and then. Maybe it was the clothes you decided to wear. The food you decided to eat. The books you read. Perhaps it was the way your hand twitched and you pulled your bottom lip between your teeth whenever the trollhunter said something brash.

 

There were too many factors to just pinpoint one single cause to his epidemic. The epidemic you caused unknowingly.

 

All of this shouldn’t be happening. He was a hunter! He was supposed to know his prey inside and out - how they lived, when they ate, when they slept, what they did frequently and when they did it, their habits, their everything! But he didn’t… not with you and it was because you were not his prey.

 

“Angor?”

 

His head snapped over to where the quiet voice originated from. Immediately, his gaze fell onto your form.

 

For a split second, Angor allowed a rare smile to grace his features at the sight of you. An oversized t-shirt engulfed your upper half, slipping off your shoulders and leaving them bare. The hem of your shorts peeked out the bottom of your shirt - at first glance it seemed as though you weren’t wearing any, but he chose to ignore that simple thought. There also happened to be a mop atop your head that was spilling around your face.

 

“Why are you still awake?” You grumbled.

 

You took the palm of your hands to your eyes and rubbed in hopes of suppressing a tired yawn from escaping between your lips.

 

“I could ask the same of you.” Angor’s voice was deep, yet very soothing to the ears. You liked it when he talked and often found yourself wishing he wouldn’t stop after he started.

 

With a brow raised, you said, “I just woke up. I haven’t been up this whole time, trust me.”

 

Your feet and legs moved on their own command until you came to sit on the window seat beside the troll. The window was open - the moon’s graceful light leaked throughout the dark room in a way you didn’t noticed before and a cold breeze pushed itself into your home.

 

E/c eyes moved from the open window over to the troll who’s own eyes were trained on you. Heat found a way up your neck to your checks, but you knew you could blame it on the cold breeze should Angor question it.

 

“So, why are you still awake?” You purposely bumped your knee against his.

 

The troll froze. Golden orbs dropped to where your knee collided with his and to where it currently rested. It was an odd sensation. This feeling was not new, however, it was a recurring feeling - the feeling of when your skin grazed across his stone surface. It was one he welcomed… one he wouldn’t not turn down nor deny.

 

“Sleep is hard to come by.”

 

“It always is, isn’t it?” You leaned your head back on the wall. “Especially nowadays.”

 

A deep breath came from Angor. “I understand what it is you are saying.”

 

“You probably understand it more than I do now and ever will.” You commented. Momentarily, you thought you saw a look of grief and sadness cross the troll’s face, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. Angor then looked away from you completely and out the window, just like he was before you spoke his name. “Oh…”

 

You frowned.

 

You didn’t wake up in the middle of the night and walk down the stairs to find the bounty hunter only to make him feel bad. That wasn’t your intention at all! You just wanted his company because it gave you sense of safety - a sense of safety you didn’t feel with anyone else anymore. Plus, Angor was able to make you happy in the strangest of ways when no one else could.

 

There were certain ‘ticks’ he had about him that you liked and were oddly attracted to. Actually, you were oddly attracted to Angor Rot in every which way. You didn’t know why you were, but you wanted to know why. You wanted to solve this problem you were having. It was a huge problem for you and you didn’t want it. Not with Angor.

 

Once you felt the same towards another - Draal. But he’s gone now and he’s gone because of the bounty hunter. You felt as though you were betraying Draal. I mean, you felt this same exact way - if not but a bit different - for Draal that you were now feeling for Angor Rot.

 

Actually, you still had feelings for Draal and you were pretty positive that they would never dissipate. He was dead though. He wasn’t coming back.

 

Angor Rot came back though. That gave you hope, but you knew it was false hope. Draal was going to stay dead no matter how much you wanted to change that. If that big, blue troll of yours had lived, then you wouldn’t have developed feelings for Angor… and you would’ve been so happy!

 

You were happy now though, weren’t you? With Angor?

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“For what?” Angor asked.

 

You opened your mouth to speak, but found no words. Why were you sorry? You had no idea why you apologized. “I don’t know.”

 

Angor once more turned away from the window to stare openly at you. He watched you and read the emotions flashing across your face. You were very easy to read in moments like this, when you faltered and tripped over yourself in such a way.

 

“What awoke you from your slumber?”

 

You blinked. “What?”

 

“One does not casually wake in the middle of the night, Y/n.”

 

“Maybe I did.” You scoffed slightly.

 

“Answer my question.”

 

“Why do you want to know so bad?”

 

“Someone once told me that ‘talking about it helps out the soul’.” The troll quoted your owns words of advice to you.

 

Of course he would use your own words against you in a time like that. Now you felt quite obligated to spill everything. Not because Angor said something you once said to him, but because when you said those words to him he actually spilt everything without a moment of hesitation.

 

“It was just a dream.” You all but whispered. Your legs picked themselves up and huddled against your chest. Immediately, your arms wrapped around your legs and secured them in a tight hug.

 

He saw it just as much as he heard it in your voice. The pain was evident and obvious. Angor knew what was the cause of your pain, and he could feel his guilt bubble and boil over the wall of facade he frequently kept up.

 

At the time, back in Merlin’s tomb, Angor had not know the feeling you harboured for the troll held captive by Gunmar - the troll that once was the protector of the trollhunter. In fact, Angor didn’t know about what you had with the larger troll until after the battle against Gunmar and Morgana… after Angor had switched sides. And after finding out, Angor regretted what he had done and whilst it was not the first time he had regretted doing something, it was definitely not something he often experienced.

 

Yet, in all his guilt and regret, Angor did not wish to change the events that occured because he knew if the other were still alive, then he would not have you. Angor was selfish with you but at the same time very selfless for you.

 

“About him.” Angor stressed on his last word, not daring to actually speak the blue troll’s name. In all honesty, he did not know if he was even allowed to utter the troll’s name out loud for any to hear.

 

“Are you asking me if I dreamed about him or are you telling me I did?”

 

“You tell me.”

 

You sighed and hugged your knees closer to your body. E/c eyes still held the attention of the golden ones opposite of you. “It’s the same dream, you know, and I’ve been having it for a few weeks now. The dream isn’t a nightmare until I wake up and realise that it wasn’t real. That it didn’t happen. But Draal is alive. He’s here, he’s happy, he’s laughing, and he’s with me. And it’s just me and him in the dream. We’re together. It’s all just so real!”

 

“Dreams have a way of feeling like reality.” Angor tilted his head. “It is our mind tricking itself out of reality all together. To submerge ourselves into a more pleasant scape.”

 

“But I don’t want to keep seeing Draal alive in my sleep, Angor!” You spat harshly.

 

Millions of emotions ran through your body at once, overwhelming you. You haven’t felt such a sensation since you watched Draal’s death happen before your eyes. It was painful and it terrified you.

 

“I want to see him alive in the here and now or not all! I hate seeing him as a figment of my imagination. I hate hearing him talk. I hate him being there in a dream that I can’t change or do anything in. None of it makes me feel better! If anything, it makes me feel worse than I did before!”

 

You body shot up to stand in the middle of your outburst and you had started to pace before the the window seat and Angor. You’ve gone back and forth so many times now that the bounty hunter believed you burned holes into the carpet beneath your feet.

 

“I am sorry for the pain I have bestowed upon you.”

 

You stopped your mission to destroy your carpet. “You’ve already apologized, Angor. You don’t need to do so again.”

 

“I will continue to apologize for what I have done until you are no longer in pain.” Angor came to stand.

 

Your eyes trailed after the troll as he stalked towards you slowly and carefully. He was using the same caution one would use to get closer to a wild animal. You supposed you were like a feral animal in that moment, or a bomb ready to explode at any second.

 

“I don’t know how long or if I can stop hurting over this…” Your voice fell near the end and you didn’t care to pick it back up.

 

“Then I will continue as I was.” The troll finally stopped moving as he came to stand directly in front of you. “Just know that every apology is not empty, and that I mean each and every single one. Do you understand?”

 

All you could do was nod.

 

“If I was able to go back, I would not have chosen to kill him.”

 

“If I was able to go back, I would have stopped you from killing him.”

 

In truth, the both of you lied to one another, but each believed the other’s words.


	13. Intrusion {Draal/Reader}

~~~~ _"I will take the pieces, put them back together_

_Even when the grass isn't greener enough_

_Taking all the branches, build ourselves a mansion_

_Love you in the ways that you needed love."_

 

 

With a toothy grin spread to the edge of his face, Blinkous Galadrigal said, “This place really is spectacular, Y/n. Truly.”

 

It was the truth. The troll wouldn’t lie to Y/n - in fact, Blinky found it quite impossible to do so, that and he were just a terrible liar all together. But that’s besides the point. The point was that Blinky was telling one of his favourite humans the truth. Simple as that.

 

Blinky happened to be gazing upon Y/n’s large, yet comfortable living space. It was very plain, nothing that stood out and nothing out of the ordinary took up any dark corner of your home. The only thing that honestly caught his attention was the over extensive bookcase and all the overwhelming amount of books.

 

“Sorry about the mess,” You apologize, sweeping a strand of loose hair behind your ear. “I wasn’t exactly expecting to bring anyone new back home with me.”

 

You had seen that the troll - well, human now - was eyeing the scattered books all around. It wasn’t until then that you really noticed how many books you had. It was a bit ridiculous, you realised, at just how many took up residence and precious space. However, your bookcase was already full… so, you couldn’t store books there any longer.

 

“I’ll work on cleaning up later.” You semi promised.

 

“Whatever for?!” The tone of his voice caused you to jump slightly, and you dearly hoped Blinky hadn’t noticed.

 

“It’s dirty?” You looked between the humanized troll and your home. You weren’t sure what else to say or how to answer.

 

The look on Blinky’s face was one of absolute flabbergast. He couldn’t even begin to comprehend to what you were telling him. I mean, clean?! What was there for you to clean? Your home was perfect the way it was, in his opinion. Blinky liked the way it looked and all your sprawled out books. It reminded him a bit of his own home.

 

“Dirty!” Blinky let out a hearty laugh. “Y/n, I do not think you know what ‘dirty’ really is! Your home is not unclean nor is it filthy. A bit disorganized, yes, but dirty? Heaven’s no! In all honesty, I find your home to be quite appealing.”

 

You raised a brow. This mess was appealing to Blinky? That was a first. “Thanks, but I still need to pick up some things.”

 

“Then, I suppose I can be of some assistance.” Blinky offered. He didn’t see the need to argue with you about cleaning or not cleaning your home. He supposed that it wasn’t up to him at all, seeing as he didn’t live with you.

 

“No need,” You shook your head. “I’m a big (girl/boy) who can pick up after (her/his)self. But, uh hey, I do appreciate the offer!”

 

Just by the smile on your face alone allowed Blinky to know you were being genuine in your gratitude. “Of course, Y/n. Though, the offer will remain on the table should you choose to accept my help later on.”

 

To that you nodded in response.

 

A silence draped over the two beings standing in the middle of Y/n’s living room. The silence wasn’t anywhere near awkward or uncomfortable, but that didn’t mean it was welcomed amongst those who experienced it.

 

“So, I don’t know what Jim taught you about ‘Human 101’, but if you have any questions you can just ask me. I’ll be sure to try and answer anything you throw my way, Blinky.” You send your friend a double thumbs up.

 

“Master Jim was able to inform me on many of your human, ah, functions. As well as answer all the questions I had at the present. Though, I do suppose I have one small question,” Blinky cringed inwardly and shifted his weight from one foot to the other periodically. “Where is your lavatory located?”

 

“Up the stairs, take a left, and it’s the second door on the left.” You pointed your finger to the stairs. Your eyes trailed after Blinky as he ran up the stairs with zero hesitation and one-hundred percent dedication.

 

Stifles of laughter fell off your tongue and spilt over your lips. Blinky was amusing to watch at times, especially now that he possessed a human body with human bodily functions. It was adorable that Blinky didn’t even seem bothered by the unexpected transformation and was rather excited over it instead.

 

Had it been you in his position - being turned into a troll instead, though - you don’t think you’d be as excited. Don’t get it wrong, you would be fascinated with swapping species, but you wouldn’t technically love it. You’d miss being human and everything that comes with it, believe it or not. Not only all that, but the sun would be stripped away from you, leaving you with nothing but darkness and moonlight. That wasn’t something that could be leeched off for too long in order to fit survival needs. Not for you, at least.

 

“I still do not see why you are allowing Blinky to stay here.”

 

Your heart leaped from inside your chest mimicking your entire body’s movement and you swore you could feel your lungs expand to abnormal measurements. You turn around only to get a face full of blue - literally.

 

E/c eyes slowly moved from a chest full of blue up to familiar eyes of yellow and red. “Draal, what are you doing you here?” You asked, actually surprised by his appearance within your home. “You’re supposed to be at Jim’s. Making sure nothing happens to him or his mom. Protecting him. The whole shebang.”

 

“I do not need to watch over the trollhunter and Bar-bar-ra all of the time, Y/n.” Draal knelt down onto his hands to become eye level with you - or well, not exactly eye level, but close. “I could always go back though.”

 

Draal watched as your brows furrowed and danced in awkward motions. Rolling his eyes, Draal shoved his nose into your h/c locks and took in a deep breath. The larger troll absolutely loved your scent because it was so unique and very much described you in a way words could not - if that made sense.

 

You didn’t make a move to push Draal away or make him stop. Simply, you just relished in the moment. Draal continued to inhale and exhale, pushing his face further into your hair which actually caused you stop stumble backwards slightly. A deep rumbling sounded off of the blue troll - you would call it purring, but purring wasn’t the right word for someone like Draal.

 

“Please don’t get my hair tangled with your bull ring again.” You murmured.

 

At that, Draal pulled his face reluctantly away from your hair. He instead pushed his face directly in front of yours - to where the two of you were actually eye level. Draal starred into your pools of e/c, searching for everything and nothing all at once. The troll already knew he was reeled in and he wasn’t planning on trying to jump back into the water any time soon.

 

You melted, as cliche as that was, it was very much true. You always melted at Draal’s touch and got lost in his gaze. A large hand found its way to the back of your neck before entangling itself with strands of your hair. The blue troll shut his beautiful eyes and tugged you forward until your forehead met his nose - you know, because he didn’t have much of a forehead himself.

 

That felt nice. It was calm and long-lived. Nothing could interrupt a session like this because there was never anything surrounding the two of you. All of it disappeared out of sight the moment him and you locked eyes - out of sight, out of mind.

 

“You smell good.” Draal broke the blissful silence.

 

“You always say that.”

 

“And I always mean it, fleshbag.” Draal pulled his face slightly away from yours, breaking the contact of skin on stone.

 

Your eyes flashed open at the loss of contact, and you immediately regretted it. Draal had all but snorted in right in your face. Moisture quickly collected on your skin from the heat of the blue troll’s nose breath.

 

Your hand smooshed up against Draal’s check and you forcefully pushed his face away from yours - not that he moved much. “Ew! I hate when you do that! And I know that you know that I hate it when you do your buffalo snort thingy.”

 

A chuckle echoed throughout the room. “Would you rather I lick you?”

 

You glared at the troll before you and hoped you seemed angry, but you knew that was probably the last emotion that took up your face. Draal smirked down at you, waiting for you to say something in response or do something - you did not want to give him that satisfaction, however.

 

So, instead, you yanked yourself out of Draal’s grip and plopped down ungracefully on the worn out brown couch.

 

“Don’t be like that,” Draal walked towards where you sat. “You know it was a joke, Y/n. I meant no harm by it.” The only thing the blue troll received from you was a raised brow and pursed lips. You looked cute, but that’s not the response Draal wanted at the moment.

 

Cold metal grazed against your cheek; however, you didn’t budge. “Fleshbag. Y/n. I know you are doing this on purpose.” You pulled the corner of your bottom lip into your mouth and bit down. This was quite a frequent game the two of you played - who’s more stubborn, you supposed. Each round never last long though.

 

“HA! Oh my g-” You blurted out as Draal’s metal prosthetic arm ran over the exposed skin of neck and dipped down to tickle the crook of it. The massive being paused at your outburst and looked at you expectantly. “Don’t do that.”

 

“You did not seem to mind the other night when it was my tong-”

 

“Draal! What on Earth are you doing at Y/n’s house?” Blinky stood at the bottom of the stairs, arms crossed over his chest.

 

“As I told Y/n, I do not need to be watching over the trollhunter and Bar-bar-ra all of the time.” Draal repeated his earlier words as he pulled away from you.

 

Blinky starred at the other male in the room, his eyes - no longer six, but two - snapped up and down before moving over to you. Y/n was on the couch, head down, eyes wide, and face most definitely red. When Blinky had finished his business in the lavatory and walked down the stairs, he had not planned on witnessing Draal practically entrapping Y/n’s body against the couch whilst caressing her… neck? Honestly, Blinky had no idea what Draal did and he didn’t know if he wanted to know.

 

It was no secret about yours and Draal’s relationship, but the two mostly kept everything behind the curtains. A very private bunch to which many appreciated. However, the knowledge of you and Draal did not make it any less of a surprise to actually see an intimate - intimate to Blinky, that is - interaction between you two.

 

“That doesn’t explain as to why you are here specifically, Draal.”

 

“Perhaps not. But what I’d like to know is why are you here to stay in Y/n’s home? I hardly see the necessity of it. You may be a fleshbag now, but that does not mean you can’t venture to your own home in Trollmarket.”

 

“Draal.” You warned, but your voice was no louder than a whisper.

 

“Well, I say!” Blinky was appalled by Draal’s sudden attitude change. It had been awhile since Draal had shown this particular side of him.

 

“I invited Blinky to stay here whilst he’s human, Draal.” You said. “I just thought it would be nice for him to experience the whole ‘human package’.”

 

“He can as easily stay at the trollhunter’s home.”

 

You stood from the couch and put yourself between your blue troll and Blinky. “No, not really. I don’t think Jim’s mom would let Blinky stay at her house. Not for the night. She’s nice, but she doesn’t know-know Blinky.”

 

Draal eyes narrowed at you, then snapped to look at the figure behind you. He didn’t like the arrangement. He didn’t want Blinky to stay here with his mate alone. It’s the only reason Draal left the trollhunter’s basement. To be here so you weren’t alone with another troll.

 

He trusted you, don’t assume he didn’t. But Draal was just possessive.

 

“I don’t care. I don’t want him staying here.” Draal huffed, still eyeing Blinky.

 

“Please.” You pleaded and gently tugged on Draal’s one good arm. “I just wanted to help Blinky out being human.”

 

“I still do not like it.”

 

“You don’t have to like it, Draal. You just have to trust me.”

 

The words that you had said made Draal’s features soften. “I do trust you, Y/n.”

 

A silent conversation thus took place between the two of you. Blinky still stood behind you, unsure of what to do. He knew not to interrupt the thing going on before him, but was he supposed to just stand there and watch? Blinky felt like he was intruding.

 

Suddenly, Blinky understood as to why Draal was rather against the idea of him staying the night at Y/n’s. Great Gronka Morka! Why hadn’t Blinky realised his intrusion before hand? If he had been thinking at the time, then he would not have accepted Y/n’s offer to stay in (her/his) home at all!

 

“Ah, yes,” Blinky cleared his throat to gain the attention of the troll and human in the room. “I see now why my presence within your home is unwelcomed and quite inappropriate.”

 

Your e/c eyes went wide in confusion. You didn’t think it was inappropriate for Blinky to stay at your house. The whole ‘feeling unwelcomed’ part you could understand seeing as Draal quite plainly said he didn’t want Blinky there.

 

“Troll stuff,” The man blamed. “You’ll come to understand at some point, Y/n. Not to worry.”

 

“But-”

 

“No ‘buts’.” Blinky cut you off. “Now,” he smoothed down his shirt and straightened out his jacket. “I will be on my way to Trollmarket. Aaarrrgghh, I believe, should enjoy my companionship back!”

 

“I… but…” You voice faded off in even more confusion.

 

The humanized troll shook his head and stop careful steps around the couple towards the front door. The expressions each individual had upon their face that Blinky saw was hilarious just a tad bit. You were just down right confused and still very red in the face, but your counterpart was opposite. Draal understood, therefore he held an expression on dominance and a hint of gratitude.

 

“Goodnight, Y/n.” Blinky smiled. “Draal.”

 

And then Blinky walked right out the front door.


	14. Don't You Understand {Dictatious/Reader}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one is definitely shorter than the last three chapters, but that's because I kind of rushed it because I'm going to be in a cabin for the next four days or five days.
> 
> This chapter is Dictatious/Reader, it's just not heavily implied/touched on.

_ "You got your hands in your pocket _

_ And you pull out your wallet with every two cents for every one _

_ 'Cause you're unto me, you're unto me, I know." _

 

 

__

“What do you mean he’s alive, Blinky?” The words came off strong but shaky, uncertainty lying beneath the surface of them waiting to be exposed.

 

“I mean exactly what I said,” The four-armed troll said. “My brother is alive and quite well… For the most part. I did blind that treacherous scum whilst in the Darklands! But that is besides the point, of course. The point is that Dictatious is very much alive.”

 

“That’s impossible. He died.”

 

Blinky sighed. Two of his arms rubbed the temples of his head whilst the other two were folded on the table in which he sat at. He hadn’t the slightest idea of how to engrave the fact that his brother was indeed not dead, but alive into that thick skull of yours. You were as stubborn as they came, so it was proving to be quite the challenge.

 

“I watched him. You do understand that, right?” You continued on. “Dictatious died and I watched him die because I couldn’t do anything. There just isn’t any way for him to be alive! Now, Blinky, I think it’s time for you to drop the act and cut the cruel joke. It isn’t funny.”

 

“I am not trying to be funny, as you so put it, Y/n! I am telling you the truth!”

 

Six eyes held irritation in them and were met with two eyes of disbelief. Irritation versus disbelief - who would win such a fight? The blue troll could only hope that his obvious irritation seemed more like fury to you, perhaps then you would believe his words.

 

A scoff resounded round the room. “Telling the truth? You are doing nothing of the sort. All you are doing is feeding me lies, and I will have none of it.”

 

The legs of the chair scraped and screeched against the floor as you flung your body away from the table to stand. Lies, lies, lies. It was the only thing you had heard that day and you were exhausted from it. You didn’t want to be lied to, especially not about another’s life. That was something you had experienced far too much in your past life - the lies, that is.

 

So for Blinky to be spouting out nonsense of how his brother was alive was preposterous! The troll you called family knew how Dictatious’s death had affected you, how it still affected you. It was as though Blinky had a death wish for bringing up such a topic then turning it into a sort of joke all for his own amusement. Let’s just say, if the precious four-armed troll didn’t proceed to stop, he would come to meet the end of your blade.

 

“Y/n, Master Jim and Aaarrrgghh saw Dictious with their own eyes! Does that not account for anything?” Blinky questioned.

 

You froze before you could make your hasty exit. Did you hear that right? The trollhunter and the Krubera saw the deceased troll? It didn’t make any sense to you.

 

“You are now just telling me this?” You hissed, back towards the other.

 

“Well, I did not think to mention it earlier because I thought you would have believed me in the first place.”

 

Spinning viciously around, you locked eyes with Blinky once more. Your gaze snapped every which way in search of any deceit in his words - something you should have done in the beginning. Deceit was not what you had found both in Blinky’s words and on his face, instead you found distress.

 

Distress. From lying and talking about his brother? Or, just maybe, was the distress caused by you and your stubbornness? You had no clue why Blinky was distressed, but you would come to question him later about it.

 

“But seeing as you aren’t believing a word I am saying, then I will have to suggest that you ask Master Jim and Aaarrrgghh about my brother being alive.” Blinky watched you carefully and prepared himself for the worse.

 

The worse, of course, being the possibility of excruciating pain and death.

 

Your mouth fell open, “Dictatious is dead.”

 

For the love of - why did you have to be so difficult? Why did you have to make it so frustrating for Blinky? All you needed to do was actually hear what is was he was saying and just trust him! You trusted him with everything else in its entirety. So, why not this?

 

“That is all you have been saying.”

 

“And all you have been saying is that Dictatious is alive.”

 

The two trolls starred one another down, but to no avail did either break at the whim. The surrounding air was thick with tension and buzzing with energy. Neither knew how to proceed with the conversation without it reverting back to its first steps and looping statements.

 

“My brother faked his death,” Blinky stood from the table. “All so he could work for Gunmar and his Gumm-gumm army, Y/n.”

 

“He wouldn’t do that.”

 

To you, Dictatious would never work for that monstrous troll. You knew the very reality and horrors of the Gumm-gumm lord - you knew them very well and on a personal level. And you told every single small detail of it all to Dictatious. 

 

Once, long ago, you were a general amongst his armies. A fierce warrior. Someone that Gunmar trusted. A murderer… 

 

It was a life you left behind, though. You came to see that Gunmar was an idiot in himself and you no longer wished to serve him. So, you abandoned the dark underlord in the time he most required your presence.

 

“He knew what Gunmar did, what he was,” You explained. “Dictatious would not betray us knowing all I told him.”

 

“I understand that you love - loved Dictatious, Y/n, but he’s alive and with Gunmar.”

 

You took notice of how Blinky changed the word ‘love’ to ‘loved’ as though you no longer harboured deep feelings for his brother.

 

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's where it's up to date with my Wattpad! I literally posted this chapter on there before coming and posting all these on here.


	15. Seen As A Coward {Gunmar/Changeling! Reader}

_"Come on and break me down_

_I'll let you ruin my day_

_Flow through my veins_

_I need a fix_

_Bitter and sick."_

 

 

Bright eyes roamed the landscape from the shadows. Whether they were searching for something or admiring all that the land held was left unknown. It was a different sight to be seen… so foreign and in complete contrast to what was considered normal. There was not a single complaint, however, fore this particular landscape held beauty in its own hands.

 

“It’s not at all like home.” You breathed, electric eyes latched onto the glowing orb in the sky as it dipped further into the ground.

 

Of course it wasn’t like ‘home’. Your home happened to be darker and full of horrid creatures you wished you never had the pleasure of meeting. Well, you didn’t think of it as much of a home, but it was all you knew. Born and bred within the shadows and quaking caverns that came to complete an entire labyrinth.

 

This was to be your second life - at a point in time where you would have been needed, but that time never came for you. Word was that your dearest Dark Overlord had not wanted to give you up just yet. That didn’t make sense though. You were nothing more than dirt underneath his feet, nothing more than a pawn! So, for rumour to be that he had wanted to keep you was quite inconceivable.

 

Plus, there was nothing for you to do that would help him accomplish his wants in your home world. Being out there, in this current world, you would have helped him done so much! To spy, to fight, to work, to take orders, to give his orders, to not be stuck in the same place and doing the same thing over and over again! You could have been great. You could have prospered. Yet, you were held back by time or the Dark Overlord - which ever you decided to believe.

 

“Is it true what the others say about daylight?” Head turned away from the sun, you glanced at the large troll behind you. “Does it truly turn our bodies to stone, killing us?”

 

“Yes.” It was a gruff response.

 

You nodded and turned your attention back to the beautiful attraction that could also be the one thing to dig your grave. It was odd to be seeing the sun in person rather than imagining it when one of the others tried to explain it and its harmful deeds done to trollkind.

 

The temptation to step out into the light of day was persistent. You wanted to soak up all the light it had to offer and just enjoy the moment without any darkness consuming you. It wasn’t going to happen, not without a familiar, but it was too late for that. The bridge that linked your home to this one was closed and you wouldn’t know where to look for a fetch.

 

For now, you would have to enjoy the warmth and light from the shadows that stretched further out as the sun continued to sink.

 

“Come, impure,” Gunmar beckoned you away from the sun’s hypnotism.  “There is much to be done.”

 

The troll watched with his single eye as you continued to hone your gaze in on the sun. You took but a moment's hesitation to heed his command. Had it been anyone else, anyone but you, they would have been punished severely for their hesitation. Not that Gunmar would come to admit that to anyone nor himself.

 

An impure. That’s all you were and ever would be considered. Nothing but a groveling, pitiful creature whom satisfied his every wanting need. Gunmar could rid of you at any given moment should he so wish it.

 

So then why did the Dark Overlord constantly work to keep you alive? It should be the other way around, shouldn’t it? You working to keep him alive, not him working to keep you alive. No impure, in Gunmar’s mind, was worth anything. And yet, here he was wanting you alive because he found value in you.

 

“I apologize for making you wait, my Lord. It had not been my intention to do so, not in the slightest, I assure you.” You made quick to make amends as to avoid any violent repercussions.

 

No reply came from Gunmar. You took his own silence as a sign to shut your mouth and just follow closely behind him without another word. It had been what you were doing at the beginning of the venture, at least until you had become distracted by the sun.

 

As soon as the glowing orb grabbed your attention away from Gunmar, you had millions of questions! Questions you thought the older troll would be able to answer, but rarely did he answer the questions you spout at him. You hadn’t noticed, but there wasn’t much chance for him to actually answer, otherwise he would have. Maybe.

 

There wasn’t much knowing when it came to Gunmar, especially now that he was free of the Darklands and out for the trollhunter’s blood.

 

The current trollhunter was an odd creature to you. A ‘hoo-man’, you believed his kind was called. Apparently, he was the first hoo-man trollhunter. When Gunmar had first received news that the new trollhunter who replaced Kanjigar was a hoo-man, you had thought Bular had been mistaken. In all your years you had never heard of any creature other than a troll taking up the amulet and the sacred duty attached with it.

 

When you happened to stumble upon the trollhunter within the Darklands, you hadn’t known what to do. He - you believed the hoo-man was male - had been sitting in a caved section of the labyrinth speaking to drawings on the walls. You listened and watched whilst hidden in the shadows. Blades were drawn and you been ready to pounce. This had been the creature Gunmar was searching for! And you knew that you must take him back to your Dark Overlord.

 

But then the trollhunter began to cry.

 

For some reason, you froze in the midst of you approach and no longer found the will to attack the vulnerable creature. The pitiful sound that echoed off that shaking body wreaked havoc on your mind. It threw you to a place much darker than the Darklands would ever be - a place common for your kind. In that moment, you empathized somehow with the trollhunter.

 

It was also in that moment that you decided to leave the trollhunter be, to let him live and not be cut down. You knew that if Gunmar ever found out that you let the trollhunter go that your punishment would most likely be death; however, you planned on never letting the troll come to find the truth on that bit.

 

“We are here, impure.” Gunmar spoke.

 

You halted beside the large troll and with e/c eyes explored the familiar area. “Killahead’s pieces? But, why return here for a second time? You already gained Kanjigar’s son the first visit, and I doubt any of the others would dare return here after.”

 

“I did not come to look, impure,” A once blue, now golden eye latched onto your frame. “I came to ask you questions.”

 

“My Lord?”

 

The larger troll’s body twisted until he stood directly in front of you and dropped unto the knuckles of his hands, initially propping himself on all fours. You tilted your head down and tried to make your body appear smaller than it already was compared to Gunmar. It was supposed to be taken as a sign of submissiveness rather than a sign of cowardness, and you dearly hoped the troll read it in the way you meant it.

 

Gunmar sniffed the air and caught a whiff of fear swirling around your frame. A dark, silent chuckle moved his body in small movements - he was amused by this, by your sudden fear. Gunmar did appreciate the fact that you knew when to be fearful and not try anything stupid, it was one thing that separated you from the rest of the impures.

 

Impures were always so rash the instant fear settled in and rattled their much more fragile bones. Many dropped to the ground before Gunmar, begging for their pitiful life, and not once did they think to stay silent.

 

A few steps backwards was all it took before your back scraped against the bark of a tree and for the Dark Overlord to be hovering over you. His face was but mere inches from your own, but you didn’t think to meet his single just yet - not until his demanded it of you.

 

“What do the impures say of the Pale Lady?”

 

“My kin say she has been silent since your return, my Lord.”

 

“Do they speak of why?”

 

“I have overheard that they do not know,” You answered. “I do not know why, but the others of the Janus Order do not tell me much, my Lord. They become very quiet around me.”

 

It was true. The changelings rarely said a word to you, and you couldn’t begin to understand as to why. As soon as you entered a room filled with constant chatter it would go cold - dead, you would even say. Passing your kin you would acknowledge them, but the acknowledgement was never returned. Truly the only time they seemed to see was in the presence of Gunmar.

 

You felt abandoned, in all honesty, by the changelings. They were supposed to be your family and safeguard, were they not? Should all else fail, you were to turn to them. But how were you to turn to your kin when they obviously didn’t want you?

 

“Quiet, you say?” Gunmar dipped his face down closer to yours.

 

That had not been the response he was expecting. Gunmar would have thought the impures would have conversed with you, told you everything, but that had not been the case. It would appear as though they have shunned you. Turning against their own was only a small step closer to their inevitable downfall.

 

Gunmar would see to it that they suffer, that their lives be shortened all by his own hand. He had no time to deal with these impures. Plus, their usefulness had just run out. No longer did they have the pieces to Killahead Bridge, no longer did they need to open the bridge for his return, and no longer did the Pale Lady speak to them. The impures’ job was done.

 

“The impures are to die then.”

 

What? Had you just heard the Dark Overlord correctly? Did he truly say that changelings were to die, be killed, slaughtered?! It hadn’t made any sense. Your kind was part of his ever growing army, his spies! They helped for centuries and now he wanted them dead.

 

You hissed in a breath, “Die?”

 

There simply wasn’t any other word that could fall from your lips. They had all but been captured in your mind, running in a daze as though decapitated. So many thoughts bundled together and created a spiral of indescribable pain.

 

“Yes, die. They no longer serve their purpose.” Gunmar huffed. His single eye snapped to the befallen look that took over your features. “Look at me, impure.”

 

On command, without hesitance, you lifted your head and met the troll’s gaze.

 

“They have done nothing to ensure that Trollmarket is handed to me. And they do little to catch the trollhunter. The impures have become soft whilst being on the surface. No longer do they take part in achieving the Eternal Night by serving me. They seem to have a false sense that they are in charge here.” A small pause. “Impures are not above me. Tell me, do you wish to die with them or do you wish to fulfill your purpose in serving me?”

 

He was giving you a choice. Not that it was actually much of a choice. Life or death, that’s all you were choosing between.

 

“Would I be seen as a coward for choosing my life rather than giving it up alongside my kin, my Lord?” Your voice only faltered ever so slightly at the end, but this was the question that needed to be asked and answered.

 

A traitor is most likely what you would be called - traitorous scum who chose to live and not die beside (his/her) people. Y/n the Traitor who let someone kill so many of your own, who didn’t even try to put a stop to it, who just let it happen. Never in your life would you be able to live it down - forever would it haunt you.

 

“No.”

 

No, Gunmar would not allow any creature to utter the word coward in correlation of anything involving you for what you chose, not even if you chose death.

 

“Then I suppose I will have to choose to continue to serve you, my Lord.”


	16. Fall From Power {Changeling!Reader}

_"You were always second guessing yourself_

_But you never felt your way out_

_You were begging for a second chance to go back and do it over again."_

* * *

The bottom of your shoes clicked satisfyingly as the met the tile floor with each step you took. Each sound that echoed seemed to be planned out, each sound seemed to have complimented the rhythmatic clicks. Not once did you skip a beat.

 

Unfamiliar faces passed as you walked by, none of which proved to be of any interest to you. Those that you managed to glide past took but a moment to latch onto you. They never saw you around before; therefore, you were new. What they couldn’t tell was whether you were an incoming student or not.

 

Were you a student? You looked young enough to be one. The way you dressed though made you look more mature than any high school student attending Arcadia Oaks High. Electric e/c were hidden behind a dark blockade, so they couldn’t exactly tell how old you were that way. After all, it was a rumour that the eyes reveal your true age. Or was it something to do with the soul?

 

It didn’t matter what it actually said and meant because the students would never guess your age that way. Simply, their question would just have to be left unanswered and hopefully forgotten at some point.

 

Eventually you came across your destination - a door that read:

 

‘PRINCIPLE STRICKLER’

 

You raised a fist to the door to knock, but thought against it after hearing a pair of muffled voices from inside the room. Unconsciously, you pressed your ear closer to the door trying to hear better and perhaps understand what was being said. You still couldn’t make out most of the words; however, you came to find the identity each voice belonged to.

 

A warm hand gripped the cold door handle and pushed the heavy slab of wood out of the way before you crossed over the threshold. The chatter had died and the room you had just entered was suffocated by an extreme amount of tension. You were surprised that the tension hadn’t leaked through the cracks in the office to pollute a larger variety of things.

 

“Oh please, don’t stop on my account.” You commented as the door slowly shut behind you. Some of the built up tension did manage to get free before the one major escape route disappeared.

 

Blue and green gazed at the figure that now leaned up against a bookshelf, nonchalantly focused down on their nails. Both blue and green held confusion, but each also held something entirely different. Blue watched you with a mixture of confusion and fear - the fear was undoubtedly earned through the actions you’ve committed. Green, however, showed no indication of fear whatsoever. Instead, green expressed a sense of… longing and anger that boiled all together with the confusion.

 

Silence continued to drown any hope of conversation deeper into the water. Were the gentlemen not going to continue on with what they were saying? Were they just going to stand there and ogle at you?

 

You  _ hated _ the silence. Hated it with a burning passion that could only be fueled and never put out. The only thing silence did was allow things to fester into monstrosities and incredible issues with no solution.

 

Plus, silence was never truly silent.

 

Orbs of e/c rolled, “Well then,” You took your attention off your nails and tilted your head towards the two men at the desk. “Did you miss me?”

 

Miss you? Miss you?! Blimey, that was an idiotic question to even consider asking.

 

“You have been gone for a week, Y/n.” Strickler hissed.

 

“Week. Shmeek.” You replied. “I needed some air. Some time away from all,” Your hands gestured to the taller of the two men. “ _ This _ . I thought you would understand seeing as you like to take long vacations without any word yourself, Stricklander.”

 

You weren’t wrong. Strickler did have a nasty habit of up and leaving, disappearing off the map for quite some time, whilst not uttering a single word to anyone about it. And the man was actually supposed to let someone know! He was one of the main faces for the Janus Order after all. It was a frequent question asked about how Stickler hadn’t been cut off yet. The answer was actually quite a simple one.

 

You.

 

Yes, you were the only reason the Janus Order hadn’t cut all ties with the certain power hungry changeling named Stricklander. For some odd reason - which wasn’t really odd at all considering the history you two had - you found yourself coming up with countless excuses for him and you defended him at all cost.

 

Guilt was always something that set in immediately after jumping to Strickler’s defense no matter the situation at hand. You just felt as though you were betraying your kin and what they stood for. And in a way you most definitely were. You were protecting someone who wished to take all the power from Gunmar and keep it for themselves because there was little to no chance of the Dark Overlord of escaping the Dark Lands now.

 

“I guess you could say I was just taking after my favourite role model!”

 

A ray of light peeked through halfway closed blinds and streaked across the bottom half of your face. Teeth glistened and sparkled in the sunlight as your mouth widened into a smile full of mockery and false innocence.

 

“Y/n, you cannot just --”

 

“Don’t be such a hypocrite.”

 

“(He/She) does have a point.” Otto finally spoke up.

 

You were momentarily stunned to have just witnessed the polymorph actually agree to something that came from your lips. It was such a rare occurrence that Otto ever decided to be on the same track as you. No matter the fear he felt towards you, the man didn’t bend backwards to please you in any shape or form.

 

“Thank you, Scaarbach.” Nothing was said or even motioned in return from the polymorph. “Or not. Shame, really, that even a creature of your age still goes about life without a trace of manners in sight. You would think by now you would at least possess just a sliver of them. A simple ‘please’, ‘thank you’, and ‘you’re welcome’.”

 

That got Otto to acknowledge you in an instant.

 

If looks could kill. Oh, if looks could  _ kill _ ! You would love to say you’d be dead, on Otto’s behalf, but you knew that he could never kill you even if he wanted to. The polymorph couldn’t even begin to compare to you. If Otto ever did try to compare his being to yours he would often find himself completely outmatched. Perhaps not completely, but definitely close to it.

 

Otto was constantly in Stickler’s or Y/n’s shadow and he was beginning to grow very exhausted of it. He despised where they stood in the Janus Order. He despised how they acted so similar, but so different. He despised all the excuses they came up with. He despised their methods of gaining control in any given situation. He despised the fact that he  _ actually  _ felt fear towards them! He despised so much about them and yet he couldn’t just walk away from them like he wished he could.

 

Life was complicated and thought itself to be hilarious when it played with Otto.

 

“Maybe I’ll sign you up for one of those etiquette classes!” The comment was followed by a small laugh and Otto couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

 

It was painfully obvious that Otto was a little more than annoyed with you. You always did manage to get underneath his skin rather quickly. A terrible habit to pick up and not put down - getting underneath people’s surface layer, digging deep, not once thinking of the consequences that could potentially follow. You wished you could stop, but you were an addict.

 

“I actually know someone who teaches them. I could hook you up, Scaarbach. You know, in a jiff.”

 

“Will you just stop, Y/n? This is not about Otto,” Strickler pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “This is entirely about you and your little escapade!”

 

Escapade. Adventure. Journey. Stunt. A lot of other words that had a similar meaning.

 

The changeling really didn’t seem keen on letting up on your week long vacation. You had thought that when you brought up the fact that he too leaves without notice would have ended that whole topic of conversation. Apparently it wasn’t going to be that easy.

 

You groaned, “I already told you that I was following you in your footsteps, Stricklander. Was that just not a good enough answer for you?”

 

“No.”

 

Experienced fingers ran through h/c hair, untangling strands with hard tugs. Stickler’s ‘no’ had no room for anymore excuses. He wanted to talk about it, and you knew he didn’t give up so easily when it came to things he wanted.

 

You eyed the ceiling of the office whilst your bottom lip hooked between your teeth. A million thoughts raced around in circles, not any of them particularly good, but you needed to weigh your options. Either you tell the changeling what you were up to or you ignore your charade in whole. There were pros and cons in both, one had more than the other. Of course those weren’t the only two options, but they were the best.

 

Actually, they probably were your only options to choose from.

 

“Look, I went to visit an old acquaintance of mine that had some valuable information pertaining to Killahead and the Darklands.” You decided you would just tell him. “The bridge is destroyed, so you said, and that means there isn’t much of a chance of Gunmar getting out of that horrid prison now. This acquaintance happened to know exactly where the remains of the bridge are currently located and how to acquire them without all the beings in the world finding out. Thought it would be helpful in our current situation.”

 

“I’m sorry, but did you say you know how to get the pieces of Killahead Bridge?”

 

“My acquaintance does.” You corrected.

 

Stickler couldn’t believe - he didn’t want to. Someone knew how to obtain the pieces to the one thing he did not want to assemble. The Janus Order was in his grasp, but if they were to catch wind of this news…

 

Everything would crumble. Stickler would lose his chance of taking over the Janus Order, of ruling. This was something that he could not allow. Killahead Bridge was to not be assembled, Gunmar was to not get out of the Darklands, his kin was not to be crushed underneath the Dark Overload’s again, and Strickler was not to lose power.

 

Power that was already slipping through his fingers ever so slowly.

 

“This is wonderful news.” Otto’s happy remark pulled Stickler from his thoughts.

 

“Of course it is.”

 

“We will have to inform the others immedi…” The words that left the polymorph’s mouth blurred into the background.

 

Your gaze dangerously met Strickler’s. You knew how he felt about Gunmar and all that jazz, so you knew that this bit of information was going to eat him up. Perhaps it would even destroy him, allowing his fall from power to be even quicker.

 

All so you could take his place in the midst of chaos.

 

 


	17. For The Best {Strickler/Changeling!Reader}

_"When you're out there you just wanna have fun  
_ _And I don't wanna think that it's you on the run."_

* * *

You didn’t know where to exactly start, you also didn’t know where to exactly finish. The whole story that was yours - well, not entirely yours, per say, but that didn’t matter - had too many details, too many twists and turns, too many cliffhangers, etc. for there to be an actual start and finish. You wanted a clean, quick story. One that could be told within a matter of minutes, and every single point be highlighted and taken in accordingly.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

“I don’t really know what I should be saying,” Your voice slowed. “There’s a lot going on, and I don’t think I can fit it all in in one sitting.”

Several eyes flickered around the room, meeting different pairs, and having silent conversations that you wouldn’t have heard nor understood. It was a caution. The other in the room didn’t want you to know anything until this situation involving you cleared up.

“Why not start from the beginning?” It was an honest, simple suggestion - the only suggestion that seemed to make sense.

Your bottom lip was pulled between your teeth, “I don’t - I don’t really have a beginning… So, that’ll be a bit hard to do.”

It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t an honest answer either. You did have a beginning to your story; however, there was just so much to said story that there were multiple ways to start. You could’ve easily picked any of those, but you felt as though any beginning you picked would be looked at as a lie.

Your friends - if you could even call them that anymore - already thought you were lying about absolutely everything, you didn’t want to further that suspicion.

“I just don’t want you all to think I’m lying,” You said. “Because I’m not. Not anymore, at least.”

Even though you didn’t think you lied at all, in any shape or form. You kept a secret, yes, but that didn’t mean you lied. Did it? You had a right to keep secrets. Just because your secret was a little bigger than the average one didn’t mean you ever lied. You just never told anyone what was going on… which meant you didn’t lie. Technically. Honestly, you just had no clue.

“Y/n, we don’t want to think you’d lie to us. However, with everything you’ve done thus far,” There was a heavy pause.  
“Has made me unreliable? Untrustworthy?” You offered Blinky.

A sad look was given in return by the troll. Those weren’t the words he was going to say, but they weren’t far off either.

“It’s alright. You’re allowed to say what everyone is thinking. I’m not going to retaliate. Or you know, kill anyone.” Nervous laughter shook your shoulders up and down at your attempt to lighten the mood, but you realized you weren’t that funny when you noticed the glares. You coughed suddenly, cutting off the laughter. “I didn’t mean that.”

“You’re a changeling.”

And there it was. That big secret of yours you desperately hid from your ex-friends, you supposed, but failed to somehow keep in the long run.

“You’re also working for Bular.”

Okay, and that was another big secret. Not the one that had you more concerned. In fact, you weren’t sure how being a natural h/c had anything to do with--

“Wait, what?” You blurted as it hit you that they hadn’t said a thing about your hair. “I’m not working for Bular!”

Working for Bular? Were they being serious? Because you would never, in all your years of freedom away from that troll, go right back to being the dirt under his feet. Just because you were a changeling didn’t mean you could automatically be placed in the same category with Gumm-gumms.

“Don’t lie, Y/n. You’re a changeling. It’s obvious you’re working for Bular. Just tell us why so we can figure out what to do with you.”

To do with you. It sounded too much like a threat for you to like. Especially when it was coming from the kid you used to babysit when he was younger.

“Jim, please. I’m not working with Bular. I won’t lie… I did at one point, but that was a long time ago! I would never go back to him now. Not in my right mind, at least.”

“You have to be. If Strickler is, then you--”

Your exasperated gibberish and choked noises cut the trollhunter off. You glared heavily at the boy, irritated that he even brought up the other changeling in relation to you. “Strickler? You’re going to base me working for Bular off the fact that Strickler is working for Bular? Is that even fair logic?”

There was no reply from anyone.

“That man doesn’t even know I’m in Arcadia, let alone alive. I’ve done - and am still doing - a pretty good job at making sure he, or any other changeling for that matter, doesn’t find out that I’m here. Or alive.” That short, small explanation seemed to only confuse the beings in the room more. “I faked my death a long while ago in order to get out.”

It wasn’t a memory you liked looking back on. The memory of your fake death haunted you and caused you more nightmares than you liked to admit.

It wasn’t the fact that you “died” that caused the nightmares, it was the look of horror and grief plastered on the face of the man mentioned earlier. Yes, it was Strickler. You and him had an… interesting history together, to say the least.

At some point in your past life, you had loved the other changeling, and it had all been vice versa. Things just changed over time as Strickler dug his grave deeper and deeper as he got closer to Gunmar within the ranks. And while he dug deeper, you were trying to climb your way out of your own grave. It had caused too much rife when suddenly Strickler believed he had power over you and your being.

A trench was eventually driven between you two, and you found no point in staying within the Gumm-gumm army. So, you came up with a way to get out. That way being your faked death.

“How do we know you’re not lying?” It was Claire who had asked.

“I guess…” You trailed off. “I guess you just don’t.”

You didn’t know how else to respond to the question. You didn’t know of any way that would make your ex-friends believe you weren’t lying. If Harry Potter were real and there just happened to be a bottle of veritaserum laying around, you would’ve taken it. And unfortunately, there was no troll-magic equivalent that you’ve ever come across.

“I’d say you’d have to take my word for it, but I doubt my word actually means anything to you guys at this point.”

“No, no, it does not.” Blinky sighed.

You leaned your forehead up against the uncomfortably cold bar and shuddered at its contact. “You plan on keeping me in this cage, don’t you? Until you figure I’m telling the truth, or until you decide what to do with me.”

The others held a look of guilt.

“It is the only safe option for you and us at the moment, Y/n.”

“Yeah, yeah,” You choked on the words and hoped it wasn’t noticed. “Of course.”


	18. The Answer I Want {Bular/Troll!Reader}

_ "Won't fit in the room, big balloon _

_ Trails me 'cause I can't let go _

_ Everywhere I am, it sticks close like a friend _

_ Just like him." _

 

* * *

“Move.”

 

“No, I don’t think I will.”

 

A growl ripped through not only your throat, but the troll blocking your escape as well. The sound echoed, bouncing off the walls of the empty museum. The impures, or rather changelings as you liked to refer to them as, had left a mere moment earlier. When you had moved to also leave, the Skullcrusher’s Heir decided to stop you.

 

“And pray tell, why?”

 

Bular only frowned, staring down at you with his glowing eyes. You were currently in a very defensive mode from what he could tell. Your shoulders were raised in a stiff manner, your hands were squeezed into fists, your legs were bent as if getting ready to run, and your eyes were snapping around the room. If he hadn’t been blocking the door, you most likely would’ve been more relaxed.

 

However, the troll didn’t want you to be relaxed. Bular enjoyed it when you were on edge, when you were experiencing ‘fight or flight’ in his midst. Your fear and uneasiness brought him an unexplainable pleasure that was quite the addiction he didn’t plan on curing any time soon.

 

The male troll tilted his head down slightly to get a better look at you before he said, “I don’t feel the need to move.”

 

Your posture went more rigid. All you wanted was for Bular to remove himself from the doorway so you could leave and go back to your home to sleep. Not that you’d do any actually sleeping. A guilty conscious managed to make that activity beyond impossible.

 

To say the least, you were a complete idiot. You were reformed like AAARRRGGHH, or you were  _ supposed  _ to be. But you’ve gone and mucked all that up the moment you came in contact with Bular once again.

 

It wasn’t as though you ever planned to rejoin the Gumm-gumms. You were happy and comfortable within Heartstone Trollmarket amongst other trolls you happened to call friends. There was no ill thought towards your home, now or ever. So, the fact that you turned your back on everyone, becoming a spy for the Skullcrusher’s Heir, was a bit out of nature.

 

“You’re frightened, Y/n.”

 

Your mouth fell into a line. “Well, would it not be foolish of me if I were to be unafraid?”

 

A dark chuckle rang in your ears, and Bular seemed to surround your smaller body. There was a certain warmth radiating off his dark surface that immediately attached itself to your own, eating away at the stone layers that protected every bit of you.

 

“It is just the two of us.”

 

“Was that comment supposed to be helpful, my prince?” Your voice didn’t waver despite the way your feelings did. “Because I can assure you that it did not. In fact, you pointing out that it is just the two of us has only made my fear and anxiety grow.”

 

“Perhaps that is what I wish. Do you also wish for such a thing?”

 

“I do not believe it matters what I wish, for who am I to deny you?”

 

Apparently, that was not the response Bular was seeking out because he growled threateningly at you and inched his body closer. Out of instinct, you jumped back, every defense of yours becoming more and more apparent for the larger troll to easily read as the seconds ticked by - this action only made you weaker.

 

You wanted to shove past the other troll, to run all the way back to the comfort of Trollmarket and to the safety of your own home, but if you dared to even try… Well, let’s just say that it wouldn’t have worked in your favour and you would’ve found yourself dead on the dirty floor of the museum.

 

“That isn’t the answer I want, Y/n. Try again,” Bular breathed heavily.

 

“I don’t exactly know the answer you want.”

 

“You do.”

 

“No, Bular, I don’t.”

 

The air trapped inside your body was all but forced out as Bular slammed you against the museum wall. Your e/c eyes snapped shut at the sudden pain filling out your entire system, and in that moment you wanted nothing more than for your system to just shut down. An enormous hand seized the bottom half of your face in a tight grip, restricting you from turning your head in any direction. You heard a distinctive ‘SNAP’ from your neck when Bular all but yanked your face to be closer to his.

 

“You do, and I will not repeat myself after this.” His hot breath creeped along your face, traveling over his hand, and down the length of your neck.

 

You let out a strangled noise, but you didn’t bother to put any effort in trying to remove yourself from the troll’s hold. There wasn’t any point in doing so because Bular would’ve just caught you all over again.

 

“I don’t,” Bular’s free hand encased around the sensitive column of your neck causing you to choke violently. “I don’t wish it.”

 

The words that came tumbling out of your mouth were hardly actual words. With the increasing pressure on your jaw and neck, it was a bit difficult to speak eloquently and fluently in any language.

 

“Again.”

 

In truth, the Skullcrusher’s Heir didn’t really know what he wanted to hear. Whatever you said wouldn’t please him. Any answer you gave, whether it be truthful or not, was irrelevant to Bular. All he wanted was your actions - your body and mind’s honest response to his invasion. Your bleated words were nothing more than an unnecessary background noise - an annoying hum, if you would.

 

“I believe I told you to try again,” Bular seethed when you hadn’t muttered a thing.

 

What were you supposed to say? You had no idea what it was he was wanting you to say; therefore, anything you gave him probably would’ve turned out to be wrong.

 

“Bular--”

 

“I’m sorry to have returned, but I seemed to have left my…” The new voice came to a slow stop.

 

Strickler had to blink a multitude of times to assure that the sight before him was indeed real and not a slight trick of his eyes. Coming to the conclusion that it was all very real, seeing as the brute and Y/n had not disappeared, Strickler had no idea how to proceed.

 

“What have you forgotten, impure?”

 

Human hands clasped nervously together in front of the changeling when Bular made no move to look at him, but rather to continue to glare down at the specimen trapped between the wall and him. Strickler could barely make out the top half of your face, let alone the bottom half of your entire being.

 

“Some papers I must have graded by the end of the night,” answered the changeling.

 

“Then retrieve them.”

 

That was all Strickler needed from the troll before he walked across the room and grabbed a stack of papers. Strickler moved to exit the room and leave the museum once more, but Bular called out to him before one of his feet was even out the door.

 

“Ah, yes?”

 

“Take Y/n with you, and see to it that they make their way back to Trollmarket.”

 

You were suddenly relinquished from Bular’s hold, and you forced yourself to keep standing no matter how loud your body screamed at you to collapse to the floor. You wanted to cough and gasp for air, but you also forced yourself not to.

 

Green eyes moved to and fro the two trolls. A fake smile soon graced Strickler’s lips, unsure of what to do evenmore. “Of course.”

 

Bular’s hand wrapped around your bicep before practically throwing you forward in order to get you to move and walk towards the impure. He took notice of how sluggish you were and decided you would be punished for your apparent weakness at a later date, preferably without the audience of an impure.

 

You could’ve been no more grateful to be by the changeling’s side as you finally reached him. Stickler was shorter than you in his human form, but not by much, so you could still efficiently lean against him for support. And you desperately hoped to do so as soon as Stickler and you were far out of Bular’s sight.

 

“Y/n.”

 

You grimaced as the troll once again stopped you from leaving. It may not have been with his body this time around, but that didn’t make it any more welcomed.

 

Turning, you looked at Bular and let out a simple, “Yes?” Just as Stickler had done moments ago.

 

“It would do you well to come up with the answer I want before we meet again.”

 

“Of course,” You copied Strickler a second time.

 

“Now, get out.” With that, the changeling and yourself hurried out of the museum building.


	19. Charm {Vendel/Human!Reader}

_ "When I see you smile _

_ I can face the world, _

_ Oh oh, you know I can do anything _

_ When I see you smile _

_ I see a ray of light _

_ Oh oh, I see it shining right through the rain." _

 

* * *

This was a… unique situation that Vendel didn’t quite know how to handle. Usually he knew how to handle anything thrown his way, but this just seemed to be out of his ball pit. Honestly, Vendel was just too old for this type of thing. Perhaps, if he were in his youth once more, then he wouldn’t be as clueless as he was.

 

The elder troll wasn’t uncomfortable with it. At first it had been a bit unsettling, obviously, but that was subsided within a matter of days. So now, he found no or need reason for such a feeling as that. And if that feeling was ever to come about, then Vendel would have put a stop to it immediately - as quickly as one would put out an ever growing fire.

 

“So, what do you think?”

 

Vendel twisted his head around to peer down at you and the object within your hands. Brow ridge raised, he asked, “What is that supposed to be exactly, Y/n?”

 

“Um,” You flipped the object over. “It’s a… Well, it’s like a little trinket or totem - charm too if you’d rather call it that. I made it for you! To, you know, put it on your new staff!”

 

Clouded eyes slowly traveled to the slab of wood in his hand. Vendel saw no fault in his newly acquired staff other than the fact that it was not his original - the one that was still strangely missing.

 

“Is there something wrong with it?”

 

Your eyes widened, and your head shook to answer ‘no.’ “There’s nothing really wrong with it. Your staff is really bland. Boring. Not that there’s anything wrong with bland or boring! But your other staff at least had some character to it. This one is literally just a normal stick.”

 

“Indeed it is.”

 

He didn’t necessarily see the point you were trying to bring up. Yes, Vendel’s staff now was just a normal walking stick that bore no resemblance at all to his stolen one, but the piece of wood was only temporary. What purpose would it serve to waste time and customize it?

 

“Don’t you want to make it a little more… I don’t know… homey?”

 

“And  _ why  _ would I want to do that?”

 

Because your new staff is ugly and I don’t like it, is what you would’ve loved to tell Vendel. Thankfully, though, you thought better and kept your mouth shut instead. It would do you no good to upset the older troll. Well, make him more upset than he already was on a continuous basis.

 

All you wanted was to make the elder troll happy or at least smile. He never did enough of either. So, you always tried to do something for Vendel - something nice and heartfelt. Most of the time he didn’t really catch on and stayed grumpy, but that was okay. One day you’d get it right! Right?

 

Abruptly, you felt a small pain coming from the top of your head. An ‘ow’ left your mouth, and your free hand came up to touch the injury. You were quick to realise that Vendel had “softly” hit his staff against your head in an attempt to regain your attention.

 

“Y/n, I believe I asked you a question.”

 

“I know. I know,” You pulled your hand away from your head. “You didn’t have to hit me by the way, Vendel. Saying my name would’ve done just as good if you wanted to pull me from my own thoughts.”

 

“I find my method,” There was a nod towards the staff. “To be more effective.”

 

The way your lips twitched upwards in a smile brought an odd warmth to Vendel. He couldn’t exactly explain it in words or really any other form of communication, all he knew was that he enjoyed the warmth you brought with you. It was entirely refreshing more so than often.

 

He often envisioned that this was his substitute for sunlight. Obviously being a troll meant that Vendel could not venture out into the daylight without severe consequences - consequences being death - therefore, he could never feel the sun’s own warmth. Not that he ever actually desired to fulfil such a dream. Vendel preferred to stay underground in the safety of Trollmarket rather than to roam the top surface no matter the time of day.

 

“Can’t really argue that it’s more effective, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Anyway, to answer your question,” Vendel opened his mouth. “And don’t cut me off!” His mouth closed in an instant. “Thank you. Back to what I was saying… I know you don’t  _ want  _ to fix up the staff. But I think you should, that way it fits your personality and style. Like your heartstone one did! Plus, you can just get rid of this one if you get your other one back.”

 

“‘If?’”

 

“I mean when!” The way your voice rose in pitch made Vendel jerk his head back. You noticed the reaction, and laughed nervously whilst avoiding eye contact for the moment being. “I mean  _ when  _ you get your staff back, Vendel. ‘Cause we’re going to find who, ah… stole it and get it back, of course.”

 

The word ‘stole’ was long and drawn out needlessly. You had hoped Vendel didn’t pick up on it, but you knew he did.

 

“Ah, yes. Are you still certain, Y/n, that you don’t know who  _ stole  _ my staff?”

 

“No, no, no. Nope. Nada. Not a clue!”

 

“Mmm hmm…”

 

Vendel knew that you knew something, as did he the same when it came to Blinkous and the trollhunter’s companions. However, he didn’t bother in interrogating any of them to confirm suspicions. Vendel believed there was a good reason behind the theft of his staff, so he let it be with the exception of an inquiry here and there.

 

“Let me see it,” Vendel outstretched an open hand towards you.

 

With brows furrowed, you stared at the hand before you. “See what?”

 

“The charm you’ve supposedly made for me,” His eyes traveled to the object still within your grasp.

 

You too followed his gaze until it landed upon the common destination. You had forgotten about your gift to Vendel for a second. That mind of yours had briefly flashbacked to the memory of what truly happened with the elder troll’s heartstone staff.

 

“Right,” Bringing up your gift, you gently dropped it into Vendel’s hand.

 

The troll pinched the string attached to it between his fingers and instantly lifted the object in front of his face so he could inspect it closer. It was certainly…  _ different _ . Vendel genuinely couldn’t make out what it was. The colour was a deep grey, and it seemed to be completely solid. It was anything but smooth as sharp ridges and blunt edges littered the entire thing in odd places. In all honesty, the shape of the whole thing was quite odd. Furthermore, it vaguely reminded him of a golem.

 

Right away you recognized the look of confusion taking over Vendel’s features. I mean, you knew your craftsmanship wasn’t anywhere near great, but for once you thought that you nailed something! By now, you could probably admit you were wrong in your assumption.

 

Heat from embarrassment licked at your cheeks, leaving behind a pink residue. Maybe you shouldn’t have made what you did and instead bought Vendel a brand new sock to put on the top end of his new staff. The elder troll would’ve known what that was at least.

 

“What am I looking at?” Vendel asked, tearing his two eyes away from the object to gaze upon your suddenly reddened face. The rapid colour fluctuations that humans tended to experience so often would never cease to bewilder Vendel.

 

“Well, it’s… it’s, um. Well, it’s actually - ha ha! Eh, funny thing,” The way you staggered over your own words annoyed Vendel greatly, but he said nothing to interrupt out of the amusement of watching your shade of red darken. “It’s actually, uh, supposed to be… you…”

 

Him?

 

“Me?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

You felt yourself flinch away and shut your eyes out of instinct, thinking you're about to be yelled at and scorned by Trollmarket’s community leader. Alas, the shouting never came. E/c popped open, curious as to why there was silence. All you came to find was that Vendel had gone back to staring at your gift.

 

“I’m sorry that it isn’t the best,” Your voice was soft. “If you don’t want it, that’s fine--”

 

“It is a wonderful gift, Y/n. Thank you,” Vendel cut you off before you could tell him that it was okay to give it back.

 

“But--”

 

Once again, Vendel cut you off. He held the charm side-by-side to his face. The elder troll looked back and forth between it and you before his gaze ultimately decided to fall on you. “I do see the resemblance it bears now that you’ve mentioned it.”

 

“Really?”

 

Vendel watched your lips twitch upward back into the smile that brought him warmth. “Indeed.” Y/n’s smile only tripled in size at his reassurance.

 

“Good, good. So, are you going to put it on your staff now?” You questioned, patiently awaiting the elder troll’s answer.

 

“Only if you assist me in doing so.”


	20. Attachments {Tronos Madu/Human!Reader}

_ "You know I, I'm afraid of change _

_ Guess that's why we stay the same." _

* * *

What a turn of events this all turned out to be. It wasn’t the first turn of events to have happened in your life, and it wasn’t even the biggest one, but it was all still so… so… Ah. Well, you couldn’t think of the word you needed, but you knew what you meant. As long as you didn’t have to explain it to someone else, you’d be in the green zone.

 

Truthfully, this not being your first rodeo, you at least knew what to expect for the most part. Hopefully. Probably not now that you really thought about it. The first rodeo only lasted a mere seconds and ended in tragedy; therefore, it never got the chance to be played out. This rodeo, the one you were currently experiencing, was only on day eleven. Definitely longer than that first one, but your ‘I know what to expect’ attitude was wearing off rather quickly.

 

Come on, Y/n! Being the honorary trollhunter you were, you should be prepared for anything and everything! And that meant being two steps ahead, not three giant leaps behind. How were you supposed to protect Arcadia and all the beings in it if you didn’t even know what would happen next? Maybe you were just overthinking. Maybe you didn’t need to be two steps ahead. Maybe you could avoid being three leaps behind, and instead, be insync. Yeah, yeah, that could work.

 

“You think too loud.”

 

A hand flew to your chest in hopes to catch the heart that may have literally jumped out of your ribcage at hearing the unexpected voice. Unexpected, great. Might as well mark yourself at four leaps behind now, you thought. Trying to regulate your heart rate back to normal, you took slow and heavy breaths. It burned a little, you’d admit, but it helped the uncomfortable beating against your ribs settle down.

 

“Tronos,” His name slipped off your tongue as you exhaled. “What are you doing here?”

 

The voltarian observed you intently. It had only been eleven days since he helped the royals destroy the asteroid heading towards Earth and only eleven days since his escape from Area 49-B. In those eleven days, Tronos hadn’t done much except travel between Mother and to wherever Y/n was as long as they weren’t in public. Not that he cared much about being seen by humans, but he’d rather avoid another Kubritz. The only reason Tronos went to you was because you seemed to be the one with less of a guard up around him amongst the others.

 

He enjoyed it. Tronos felt as though his every move wasn’t being watched whilst in your presence, and that he could relax. Well, not relax - bounty hunters didn’t have the time to relax. What he was trying to say was that Y/n let some of their guard down, so in return, he did the same with the ones he could afford having down. Tronos had hoped that you would notice his efforts and would continue dropping your guard in a way so he could indefinitely read you.

 

“I grew bored.”

 

“I don’t know why I asked. That’s been your answer every time. And yet, I’m still not sure how I’m supposed to cure your problem,” You said.

 

Whenever Tronos decided to pay you a visit, you would ask why and his answer always had to do with his boredom. Even though he’s been out of Area 49-B for eleven days, he’s somehow managed to come across you and ‘hang out’ - so to say - much more than eleven times. There were days when the voltarian would only be with you for a few minutes, disappear, and then return at some point later - this would happen a multitude of times if it were that kind of day. During the other days, Tronos stood by your side for hours on end quite literally just watching you, not really attempting any sort of conversation.

 

You had to shake yourself from your thoughts when you heard a blurred out voice echoing off the walls. “What was that?”

 

Yellow eyes from behind a mask narrowed at your form. Y/n may look as though they are paying attention every second of the day, but from what Tronos had observed, it turned out to be only a show. In fact, they appeared to be spaced out more so than often and oh-so loved to think loudly.

 

“You think too loud.”

 

“Didn’t you already say that?”

 

“Apparently you didn’t hear me the first time.”

 

Your curious gaze immediately latched on to the electric blue spines protruding from the voltarian’s neck as they bristled. The spines happened to be one of your favourite ‘accessories’ of Tronos. From what your mind collected, you could almost assume they worked in a way to unintentionally showcase emotion. Sometimes the spines would lay flat against his neck, sometimes they would stand to attention, sometimes they would fan out, etcetera. It really didn’t matter what they did, you liked watching the way they moved.

 

“Or the second time,” Tronos tilted his head to the side. Y/n’s eyes hadn’t yet met his own in the few minutes he’s been in your home, and to be honest, it annoyed him just a little.

 

Unfortunately, you being spaced out often was the one downfall of allowing your guard down. Tronos wanted your guard down, what he did not want was for you to be on - as the humans say -  _ cloud 9 _ .

 

“Human,” called out the voltarian.

 

“I have a name you know,” You snapped out of your thoughts once more. “It’s not ‘fleshbag,’ believe it or not.”

 

Now, that comment was confusing. “Yes, Y/n, I am aware you have a name. But I did not call you a fleshbag. I called you a human, seeing as that is what you are.”

 

“I-” You paused. “You didn’t?”

 

You could’ve sworn you heard the word ‘fleshbag’ leave the mouth of Tronos. Perhaps you’ve grown far too accustomed to that particular nickname from the trolls that you refused to hear any others. Not that ‘human’ was much of an upgrade from ‘fleshbag,’ but at least it was a bit nicer.

 

“No.”

 

“Right. Sorry,” Fingers raked through strands of h/c hair. “Guess I’m just used to being called a fleshbag at this point.”

 

“By those creatures?”

 

“Trolls.”

 

Tronos rolled his eyes. “By those  _ trolls _ ?”

 

“Yes, Tronos, the trolls tended - and still tend - to call all the humans fleshbags. It’s not like they’re wrong in doing so,” You huffed. “Humans are literal bags of flesh with a few extra things added. Like bones and whatnot.”

 

An odd look was sent your way, but before you could process it the voltarian zapped away through a nearby outlet. So, it was going to be one of those days was it? Honestly, you might as well admit your ‘I know what to expect’ attitude was completely drained and had been for the past eleven days. There wasn’t any point in lying to yourself now.

 

Your head fell into your hands out of defeat. All you had left to do now was contact Jim and tell him your career as a trollhunter was over now because you couldn’t be ahead in the game. You’re sure the kid would take the news fine, it’s not like you were the only one in the group.

 

Turning around, you collided into something solid and came face-to-face with a chest full of red. For the second time that day, your heart leapt from out of its cage and your hands flew up to catch it.

 

“For Heaven's sake!” Your voice was loud and a little shaky. Why did he have to do this to you? “Do you  _ have  _ to do tha--”

 

“Why won’t you look me in the eyes?”

 

Look at him in the what? It was your turn to now be confused by such a comment. As far as you were concerned, you did look Tronos in the eye - it was the polite thing to do when conversing, was it not? E/c eyes seemed to meet his yellow ones every time he dared to find you. Then again, maybe not. Memories surfacing made it apparent that you actually avoided meeting his eyes.

 

Lips parted to reply, but nothing came out except a noise that sounded like a croak.

 

Say something! You’re a trollhunter. You’re supposed to be brave. Why are you all of the sudden choking up on words? This isn’t like you. Hey, Y/n, if you don’t say something who knows what this guy will do to you. Just open your mouth more and say something - anything.

 

The person inside your head demanding you say something started to irritate you, but you listened to it and opened your mouth more. “Anything.” And your eyes snapped shut as you cringed inwardly. You don’t think that’s what your conscience meant by saying ‘anything.’

 

“What?” Tronos peered down at you with caution as his head swiveled side to side.

 

“I don’t know. I panicked,” You explained in a rushed tone.

 

Blue spines flattened and you couldn’t help but let a small amount of worry to sink in. Usually when the voltarian had his spines flattened it meant that nothing good was going to follow. Still practically being pressed into his body, really not knowing what you were doing, you raised a single hand up and smoothed it over the length of his neck. Instantly, the spines shot up to attention.

 

Tronos froze at Y/n’s touch. Though he had his armor on, he could still feel the hand move in a slow, fluid motion downwards. However, once the hand reached the point where his neck met his shoulders, it disappeared. Tronos was about to comment when the hand all but returned to where it first landed and repeated its action from seconds before. Y/n was careful to avoid his spines, but every now and then he felt their fingers bump against the base of them on accident. It was oddly calming.

 

There was a slight vibration beneath the palm of your hand before a throated sound reached your ears. Was… was the voltarian  _ purring _ ? It certainly resembled the purring of a cat, only deeper in tone and louder.

 

“I think… I think it’s because I’m afraid,” You broke the silence, but not the movements of your touch. The purring came to an abrupt stop and you felt that meant Tronos was listening, so you continued on. “Not afraid of you, of course. But afraid at the possibility that will follow once I- No, no. That’s not right. I’m just…” You took a deep breath. “I know that if I meet your gaze and look into your eyes, Tronos, I’ll become attached. And attachments are no good in this business… Not for me, at least. I can’t handle it when someone leaves. It’s too much. So, I’d rather avoid attachments at this point in my life.”

 

Silence filled the room again after your brief confession of sorts. Obviously you could have been deeper, more full of emotion in what you said, but then you would’ve turned into a bigger mess than what you already are.

 

“I understand.”

 

And he did. Tronos understood when it came to not wanting attachments. He was a bounty hunter after all.

 

“Will you look just once?” Tronos asked realizing that this could very well be your last guard up. If he could get you to meet his eyes, then he could read you like he wanted.

 

You removed your hand from Tronos and took one giant step back. “Just once?”

 

“Yes.”

 

And so, e/c eyes gradually lifted until they locked with yellow orbs. It was a mistake, you knew, but it was too late. You were already drowning.


	21. When Have I Ever {Morando/Akiridion!Reader}

_ "Without you here I wont know who I am or who to be  
If I walk away I'm scared I'll never see you again." _

* * *

“What is it you seek from me exactly?” The words came out monotone to match the nonchalant demeanor. “We haven’t spoken since your decision to usurp the Akiridion-5 throne. Which you were exiled for if my memory hasn’t failed me.”

 

Of course your memory hadn’t failed. It proved to be quite difficult to forget such an important large piece of information - of history in the eyes of some. That, and you were almost exiled amongst the rest of the Taylon Phalanx. Fortunately, you were able to escape the punishment by a fragment.

 

Dear, poor Y/n had obtained some rather dark intelligence concerning the royal family throughout the keltons in which they served them. No other body knew of those secrets - it was just the king, queen, and you. It was all used as blackmail in the end. You gave the ultimatum of you being exiled and the intelligence is leaked, or you keep your position and the intelligence is withheld from the public. Obviously, the latter was chosen.

 

“I seek for nothing I already have, Y/n.” Morando answered.

 

“Already have? My, my, my. Has exile driven you further into insanity that you would actually believe you have something from me, Val? Because I can assure that you most definitely have been given nothing where I am of concern.”

 

A low growl slipped past Morando’s lips. Did you always have to turn a blind eye and deny the truth when it came from his own mouth? Even in the keltons where you fought side-by-side with him, you regarded him with the same act. It was tiring.

 

“Believe what you will,” Four eyes snapped up and down the length of your face. “But I know the truth, and that is all that matters. You hold the same views as me--”

 

“Not really.”

 

“You hold the same views as me,” Morando harshly repeated. “You know that the royals are wrong in their ways, that they are weak. Somehow, Y/n, you know more about them than myself. For that, your hatred should run deeper than my own.”

 

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes. Sure, what Morando said made sense, but that didn’t mean that it was all true. Honestly, everything but the little hatred part was true. You don’t think you could ever  _ hate  _ the royals any more than Morando. It seemed near impossible to do so. Plus, unlike yourself, you couldn’t pinpoint where his hatred for the royals began and where it ended.

 

“I’m not that great of a guesser. Mind telling me what it is you believe I gave to you or whatnot?” You ignored his previous comment, deciding to go back to the other topic. It was a little more interesting to you at the moment.

 

There was a glare.Y/n certainly hadn’t changed since Morando last saw them. Your stance, your gestures, your voice, your disrespectful remarks, your denial, your everything. Seklos and Gaylen, you were exactly the same! And while it was a relief for him - so he wouldn’t have to work any harder to persuade you - it aggravated him greatly. Yet, despite all the aggravation, Morando still felt the spark.

 

Ah, the spark. Untouched, but not unspoken. Long before his exile, there had been a two-way attraction. No single right answer could be given as to where and when the said attraction began. Morando’s best guess as to where would be on the battlefield. That was, after all, where he first took notice of you. However, you could have easily answered the where question with ‘behind the scenes’ because you found Morando’s brilliance and knowledge more noticeable than the way he fought. As said earlier though, there was no single right answer, and quite frankly, both answers changed far too frequently.

 

Keltons after recognizing the attraction in one’s self, the itsy bitsy spark grew in size where other Akiridions started to recognize it as well. No longer was the spark a secret to shield and hide away in the shadows. Essentially, that was what set off the need to speak of it. If the spark had just stayed in its dark corner, then the two beings would’ve never found it to be mutual and would’ve never come to address it.

 

The conversation of it had been… well, it had been weird. A conversation neither wished to ever repeat. Morando nor you did well when it came down to explaining and expressing emotion such as attraction or anything along those lines. Anger was a better emotion you both could do well with. Alas, anger had no place in that conversation. Once it had finished - the conversation, that is - the spark was never further explored. The two beings had deemed it a waste of time and unnecessary.

 

Your brow ridge rose as Morando’s pause became too long. He was glaring at you with his four eyes still, but it was off. “Did you not hear me, Val? I asked you a question. A question I’d quite like the answer to.”

 

Still silence.

 

“Have you… as they say… checked out? Val?” Still you received no response. “Seklos and Gaylen, have you finally broken or something? The great General Val Morando of the Taylon Phalanx broken after meer mekrons of speaking to his old partner! Who ever would have thought this was all it would take to stop you? Surely, this will be one for the hist--”

 

“ _ Old  _ partner?”

 

Had you not known or been trained any better, you would’ve jumped at Morando’s unexpected interruption.

 

“What is it you mean by ‘ _ old _ partner,’ Y/n?” Morando stressed the word ‘old’ and drew it out longer than required.

 

Mouth opened slightly, you weren’t happy to admit to yourself that you were lost now. “I’m sorry?”

 

“You stated you were my  _ old partner _ . Evidently, you are not as smart as I thought, Y/n. Such a shame,” A dark chuckle tore through his throat. It wasn’t often that the remarkable Y/n was found confused by something so simple, and that made for this to be quite the sight to be seen. “We are not  _ old  _ partners… No, we  _ are  _ partners.”

 

Things suddenly clicked for you then. Morando was right. You weren’t old partners, you were partners. Not once in the past did either of you betray or denounce the other. While you may not have spoken since his exile, you still managed to do things for him and he still managed to do things for you. What he already had that you had given was your loyalty.

 

Seklos and Gaylen, you hated it when he was right where you were not.

 

“Figured it out then?”

 

“Val…” You stared up at the man. “I still don’t know what it is you wish for me to do. I’m behind enemy lines. While the royals keep to themselves most of the time and leave me to my own devices, I cannot leave the city without alerting every soul in Akiridion-5.”

 

“Have you not been listening to a word I said?” Your eyes narrowed. “I told you I seek nothing from you.”

 

“Then why contact me in the first place, Val? If you were to have me do nothing, why?”

 

“I needed to warn you.”

 

Warn you? What did Morando have to warn you of? Had someone finally sent bounty hunters to collect your core for all the awful crimes you’ve committed? It wouldn’t surprise you if someone actually did.

 

You gestured your hand out in front of you in a waving motion and said, “Well, go on. Warn me.”

 

“The shields will be lowered during the coronation. I plan to take advantage of that time and attack Akiridion-5. I will be killing Fialkov and Coranda as well as their children,” A sinister smile tugged at the corner of Morando’s lips granting you permission to catch a glimpse of his sharp fangs. “Though I have no reason to believe you would try to stop me, I would see to it that you know that I will kill you along with the royals should you stand in my way.”

 

“Stand in your way?” A pitiful laugh echoed in the room. “When have I ever stood in your way, Val?”

 

“Then you see why I have no reason to believe you would try to stop me, Y/n.” His eyes locked onto yours.

 

“If not me, who did you get to lower the shields?”

 

“You’re smart, Y/n. I trust you can figure it out on your own,” Morando replied. “As for now, I have more preparations to make for the coronation. We will speak at a later time.”

 

“Oh but of course,” You said. “I plan on a longer conversation next time and more information from you, Val. Try not to disappoint me.”

 

“Disappoint you?” His smile grew larger and he mocked your laughter from mekrons before. “When have I ever disappointed you, Y/n?”

 

Before you could respond, the transmission was cut off purposefully. A sinister smile almost identical to that of Morando’s took over your features. Oh, this was going to be a fun coronation.


End file.
